In 2023, non-Hispanic Black women had the highest rates of maternal mortality among select races/ethnicities in the United States, with 50.3 deaths per 100,000 live births. The total maternal mortality rate in the U.S. at that time was 18.6 per 100,000 live births, a decrease from a rate of almost 33 in 2021. This statistic presents the maternal mortality rates in the United States from 2018 to 2023, by race and ethnicity.

Maternal mortality rates can vary significantly around the world. For example, in 2022, Estonia had a maternal mortality rate of zero per 100,000 live births, while Mexico reported a rate of 38 deaths per 100,000 live births. However, the regions with the highest number of maternal deaths are Sub-Saharan Africa and Southern Asia, with differences between countries and regions often reflecting inequalities in health care services and access. Most causes of maternal mortality are preventable and treatable with the most common causes including severe bleeding, infections, complications during delivery, high blood pressure during pregnancy, and unsafe abortion. Maternal mortality in the United States In 2022, there were a total of 817 maternal deaths in the United States. Women aged 25 to 39 years accounted for 578 of these deaths, however, rates of maternal mortality are much higher among women aged 40 years and older. In 2022, the rate of maternal mortality among women aged 40 years and older in the U.S. was 87 per 100,000 live births, compared to a rate of 21 among women aged 25 to 39 years. The rate of maternal mortality in the U.S. has risen in recent years among all age groups. Differences in maternal mortality in the U.S. by race/ethnicity Sadly, there are great disparities in maternal mortality in the United States among different races and ethnicities. In 2022, the rate of maternal mortality among non-Hispanic white women was about 19 per 100,000 live births, while non-Hispanic Black women died from maternal causes at a rate of almost 50 per 100,000 live births. Rates of maternal mortality have risen for white and Hispanic women in recent years, but Black women have by far seen the largest increase in maternal mortality. In 2022, around 253 Black women died from maternal causes in the United States.

The number of maternal deaths and maternal mortality rates for selected causes, 2000 to most recent year.

Estimates based on District hospital discharge data. Counts of and rates based on fewer than 10 births are suppressed for privacy reasons.

Source: Center for Policy Planning and Evaluation, DC Department of Health

Why This Matters

In recent decades, pregnancy-related deaths have risen in the United States. Although relatively rare and mostly preventable, the numbers are high relative to other high-income countries.

Leading underlying causes of pregnancy-related deaths include severe bleeding, cardiac and coronary conditions, and infections. Individual, social, and structural factors contribute to maternal death risk and trends, including maternal age, preexisting medical conditions, access to quality care, insurance, and longstanding racial and ethnic inequities.

Maternal mortality rates are disproportionately higher among birthing people who are Black, Indigenous, and people of color.

The District Response

Enhancements to District healthcare programs. Medicaid expansion provides greater access to prenatal care, extended postpartum Medicaid coverage for a full year, and reimbursement for doula services through all District programs. For a list of local and national resources on pregnancy and related topics, click here.

Paid family leave program providing 12 weeks to bond with a new child or care for a serious health condition, and 2 weeks specifically for prenatal care.

The District established the Maternal Mortality Review Committee, which investigates the causes of maternal deaths, and develops strategic frameworks to improve maternal health.

In 2020, it was determined that 83.5 percent of pregnancy-related deaths in the United States were preventable. That is, there was at least some chance of the maternal death being averted by one or more reasonable changes to patient, community, provider, facility, and/or systems factors. The U.S. has one of the highest maternal mortality rates among developed nations, and maternal mortality is disproportionately high among non-Hispanic Black women. This statistic shows the percentage of pregnancy-related deaths in the U.S. that were preventable in 2020.

In 2020, the leading causes of pregnancy-related deaths in the U.S. were different for different races and ethnicities. For example, mental health conditions were the leading cause of pregnancy-related deaths among non-Hispanic white women, while non-Hispanic Black women mostly died from cardiovascular conditions, and non-Hispanic Asian women from amniotic fluid embolism. This statistic shows the distribution of pregnancy-related deaths in 38 U.S. states in 2020, by underlying cause and ethnicity.

This statistic depicts the infant mortality rates among U.S. black mothers from 2013 to 2015, by state. According to the data, among black mothers in West Virginia the infant mortality rate was 11.79 per 1,000 live births.

BackgroundStudies on the barriers migrant women face when trying to access healthcare services in South Africa have emphasized economic factors, fear of deportation, lack of documentation, language barriers, xenophobia, and discrimination in society and in healthcare institutions as factors explaining migrants’ reluctance to seek healthcare. Our study aims to visualize some of the outcome effects of these barriers by analyzing data on maternal death and comparing the local population and black African migrant women from the South African Development Countries (SADC) living in South Africa. The heightened maternal mortality of black migrant women in South Africa can be associated with the hidden costs of barriers migrants face, including xenophobic attitudes experienced at public healthcare institutions.MethodsOur analysis is based on data on reported causes of death (COD) from the South African Department of Home Affairs (DHA). Statistics South Africa (Stats SA) processed the data further and coded the cause of death (COD) according to the WHO classification of disease, ICD10. The dataset is available on the StatsSA website (http://nesstar.statssa.gov.za:8282/webview/) for research and statistical purposes. The entire dataset consists of over 10 million records and about 50 variables of registered deaths that occurred in the country between 1997 and 2018. For our analysis, we have used data from 2002 to 2015, the years for which information on citizenship is reliably included on the death certificate. Corresponding benchmark data, in which nationality is recorded, exists only for a 10% sample from the population and housing census of 2011. Mid-year population estimates (MYPE) also exist but are not disaggregated by nationality. For this reason, certain estimates of death proportions by nationality will be relative and will not correspond to crude death rates.ResultsThe total number of female deaths recorded from the years 2002 to 2015 in the country was 3740.761. Of these, 99.09% (n = 3,707,003) were deaths of South Africans and 0.91% (n = 33,758) were deaths of SADC women citizens. For maternal mortality, we considered the total number of deaths recorded for women between the ages of 15 and 49 years of age and were 1,530,495 deaths. Of these, deaths due to pregnancy-related causes contributed to approximately 1% of deaths. South African women contributed to 17,228 maternal deaths and SADC women to 467 maternal deaths during the period under study. The odds ratio for this comparison was 2.02. In other words, our findings show the odds of a black migrant woman from a SADC country dying of a maternal death were more than twice that of a South African woman. This result is statistically significant as this odds ratio, 2.02, falls within the 95% confidence interval (1.82–2.22).ConclusionThe study is the first to examine and compare maternal death among two groups of women, women from SADC countries and South Africa, based on Stats SA data available for the years 2002–2015. This analysis allows for a better understanding of the differential impact that social determinants of health have on mortality among black migrant women in South Africa and considers access to healthcare as a determinant of health. As we examined maternal death, we inferred that the heightened mortality among black migrant women in South Africa was associated with various determinants of health, such as xenophobic attitudes of healthcare workers toward foreigners during the study period. The negative attitudes of healthcare workers toward migrants have been reported in the literature and the media. Yet, until now, its long-term impact on the health of the foreign population has not been gaged. While a direct association between the heightened death of migrant populations and xenophobia cannot be established in this study, we hope to offer evidence that supports the need to focus on the heightened vulnerability of black migrant women in South Africa. As we argued here, the heightened maternal mortality among migrant women can be considered hidden barriers in which health inequality and the pervasive effects of xenophobia perpetuate the health disparity of SADC migrants in South Africa.

Find data on maternal and child health in Massachusetts by race and Hispanic ethnicity.

This is a source dataset for a Let's Get Healthy California indicator at https://letsgethealthy.ca.gov/. Infant Mortality is defined as the number of deaths in infants under one year of age per 1,000 live births. Infant mortality is often used as an indicator to measure the health and well-being of a community, because factors affecting the health of entire populations can also impact the mortality rate of infants. Although California’s infant mortality rate is better than the national average, there are significant disparities, with African American babies dying at more than twice the rate of other groups. Data are from the Birth Cohort Files. The infant mortality indicator computed from the birth cohort file comprises birth certificate information on all births that occur in a calendar year (denominator) plus death certificate information linked to the birth certificate for those infants who were born in that year but subsequently died within 12 months of birth (numerator). Studies of infant mortality that are based on information from death certificates alone have been found to underestimate infant death rates for infants of all race/ethnic groups and especially for certain race/ethnic groups, due to problems such as confusion about event registration requirements, incomplete data, and transfers of newborns from one facility to another for medical care. Note there is a separate data table "Infant Mortality by Race/Ethnicity" which is based on death records only, which is more timely but less accurate than the Birth Cohort File. Single year shown to provide state-level data and county totals for the most recent year. Numerator: Infants deaths (under age 1 year). Denominator: Live births occurring to California state residents. Multiple years aggregated to allow for stratification at the county level. For this indicator, race/ethnicity is based on the birth certificate information, which records the race/ethnicity of the mother. The mother can “decline to state”; this is considered to be a valid response. These responses are not displayed on the indicator visualization.

From 2019 to 2021, there were over 11 infant deaths per 1,000 live births among non-Hispanic Black women who were obese before pregnancy in the United States. This statistic illustrates the rate of infant mortality in the United States from 2019 to 2021, by maternal pre-pregnancy body mass index and race/ethnicity.

Relative risks of infant death for non-Hispanic Black vs non-Hispanic White (Reference) by Apgar score at five minutes after adjusting for maternal education, marital status, time when prenatal care started, and maternal smoking during pregnancy. (EPS)

In 2022, there were about 4.15 million Black families in the United States with a single mother. This is an increase from 1990 levels, when there were about 3.4 million Black families with a single mother.

Single parenthood

The typical family is comprised of two parents and at least one child. However, that is not the case in every single situation. A single parent is someone who has a child but no spouse or partner. Single parenthood occurs for different reasons, including divorce, death, abandonment, or single-person adoption. Historically, single parenthood was common due to mortality rates due to war, diseases, and maternal mortality. However, divorce was not as common back then, depending on the culture.

Single parent wellbeing

In countries where social welfare programs are not strong, single parents tend to suffer more financially, emotionally, and mentally. In the United States, most single parents are mothers. The struggles that single parents face are greater than those in two parent households. The number of families with a single mother in the United States has increased since 1990, but the poverty rate of black families with a single mother has significantly decreased since that same year. In comparison, the poverty rate of Asian families with a single mother, and the percentage of white, non-Hispanic families with a single mother who live below the poverty level in the United States have both been fluctuating since 2002.

U.S. infant mortality rate for 2025 is 5.20, a 2.58% decline from 2024.

<ul style='margin-top:20px;'>

<li>U.S. infant mortality rate for 2024 was <strong>5.34</strong>, a <strong>2.87% decline</strong> from 2023.</li>
<li>U.S. infant mortality rate for 2023 was <strong>5.50</strong>, a <strong>0% increase</strong> from 2022.</li>
<li>U.S. infant mortality rate for 2022 was <strong>5.50</strong>, a <strong>0% increase</strong> from 2021.</li>
</ul>Infant mortality rate is the number of infants dying before reaching one year of age, per 1,000 live births in a given year.

UNICEF's country profile for France, including under-five mortality rates, child health, education and sanitation data.

Infant mortality rates estimated from CBV records and FPH data and corresponding 95% confidence intervals.

UNICEF's country profile for Brazil, including under-five mortality rates, child health, education and sanitation data.

Non-Hispanic Black women had the highest rate of infant mortality in the U.S. in 2022. In that year, there were almost 11 infant deaths per 1,000 live births among Black women. Leading causes of infant mortality in the U.S. include congenital malformations, disorders related to short gestation and low birth weight, maternal complications, and sudden infant death syndrome.

In both 2021 and 2022, the children of Black mothers in the United States had the highest infant mortality rate, at almost 11 deaths per 1,000 live births. This statistic shows the infant mortality rate in the United States in 2021 and 2022 by the race and ethnicity of the mother.

Crude and adjusted odds ratios (with 95% confidence intervals in parentheses) of infant mortality for singleton births for maternal and infant characteristics in California for the period 2007–2015.