Maternal mortality ratio is defined as the number of female deaths due to obstetric causes (ICD-10 codes: A34, O00-O95, O98-O99) while pregnant or within 42 days of termination of pregnancy. The maternal mortality ratio indicates the likelihood of a pregnant person dying of obstetric causes. It is calculated by dividing the number of deaths among birthing people attributable to obstetric causes in a calendar year by the number of live births registered for the same period and is presented as a rate per 100,000 live births. The number of live births used in the denominator approximates the population of pregnant and birthing people who are at risk. Data are not presented for geographies with number of maternal deaths less than 11.Compared to other high-income countries, women in the US are more likely to die from childbirth or problems related to pregnancy. In addition, there are persistent disparities by race and ethnicity, with Black pregnant persons experiencing a much higher rate of maternal mortality compared to White pregnant persons. Improving the quality of medical care for pregnant individuals before, during, and after pregnancy can help reduce maternal deaths.For more information about the Community Health Profiles Data Initiative, please see the initiative homepage.

United States US: Maternal Mortality Ratio: Modeled Estimate: per 100,000 Live Births data was reported at 14.000 Ratio in 2015. This stayed constant from the previous number of 14.000 Ratio for 2014. United States US: Maternal Mortality Ratio: Modeled Estimate: per 100,000 Live Births data is updated yearly, averaging 13.000 Ratio from Dec 1990 (Median) to 2015, with 26 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 15.000 Ratio in 2009 and a record low of 11.000 Ratio in 1998. United States US: Maternal Mortality Ratio: Modeled Estimate: per 100,000 Live Births data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s USA – Table US.World Bank: Health Statistics. Maternal mortality ratio is the number of women who die from pregnancy-related causes while pregnant or within 42 days of pregnancy termination per 100,000 live births. The data are estimated with a regression model using information on the proportion of maternal deaths among non-AIDS deaths in women ages 15-49, fertility, birth attendants, and GDP.; ; WHO, UNICEF, UNFPA, World Bank Group, and the United Nations Population Division. Trends in Maternal Mortality: 1990 to 2015. Geneva, World Health Organization, 2015; Weighted average; This indicator represents the risk associated with each pregnancy and is also a Sustainable Development Goal Indicator for monitoring maternal health.

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.

Listening to Mothers™ surveys (2002 - to present) investigate women's childbearing experiences from pregnancy (and sometimes earlier) through the postpartum period, and their views about these matters. National Listening to Mothers surveys to date were led by Childbirth Connection, which became a core program of the National Partnership for Women & Families in 2014. Listening to Mothers in California, led by the National Partnership for Women & Families, is the first state-level Listening to Mothers survey. This population-based survey of women who gave birth in California hospitals in 2016 was carried out by core Listening to Mothers investigators at the National Partnership for Women & Families and at Boston University School of Public Health, joined by investigators at what is now known as the University of California San Francisco Center for Health Equity, in collaboration with the survey research firm Quantum Market Research. California Health Care Foundation and Yellow Chair Foundation funded the survey. As investigators had access to selected birth certificate items for sampling, contacting sampled women, data weighting and data analyses, the methodology of this survey differs from the methodology used in national Listening to Mothers surveys. Other differences between past national surveys and this state-level survey include the ability to participate in the state survey in either English or Spanish and to participate on any device, as well as with a trained interviewer. Eligible women could participate in past national surveys in English only and either on their own with a laptop or desktop computer or by telephone with a trained interviewer. The Listening to Mothers in California survey questionnaire retained some core items that had been included in previous surveys, adapted others (including for mobile-first display), and included new items developed to explore the evolving U.S. health and maternity care environment and topics relevant to the California context. Topics included care arrangements, maternity care (and especially care during the hospital stay for giving birth), mode of birth, respectful and disrespectful treatment, postpartum experiences, and perinatal mental health (especially anxiety and depression). The public dataset is limited to items provided by survey participants while completing the survey, exclusive of personally identifiable information. For their analyses, the survey investigators have access to two additional sources of information about survey participants that cannot be made public: selected items on participants’ birth certificates and selected items abstracted from the California Department of Health Care Services Management Information System/Decision Support System Warehouse. Much information about the California survey is available at either www.nationalpartnership.org/LTMCA or www.chcf.org/listening-to-mothers-CA. Information about national surveys (including a bibliography of analyses carried out to date and other reports) is available at www.nationalpartnership.org/listeningtomothers/.

United States US: Fertility Rate: Total: Births per Woman data was reported at 1.800 Ratio in 2016. This records a decrease from the previous number of 1.843 Ratio for 2015. United States US: Fertility Rate: Total: Births per Woman data is updated yearly, averaging 2.002 Ratio from Dec 1960 (Median) to 2016, with 57 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 3.654 Ratio in 1960 and a record low of 1.738 Ratio in 1976. United States US: Fertility Rate: Total: Births per Woman data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s USA – Table US.World Bank: Health Statistics. Total fertility rate represents the number of children that would be born to a woman if she were to live to the end of her childbearing years and bear children in accordance with age-specific fertility rates of the specified year.; ; (1) United Nations Population Division. World Population Prospects: 2017 Revision. (2) Census reports and other statistical publications from national statistical offices, (3) Eurostat: Demographic Statistics, (4) United Nations Statistical Division. Population and Vital Statistics Reprot (various years), (5) U.S. Census Bureau: International Database, and (6) Secretariat of the Pacific Community: Statistics and Demography Programme.; Weighted average; Relevance to gender indicator: it can indicate the status of women within households and a woman’s decision about the number and spacing of children.

This data is derived from the Maternity Indicators dataset which is provided to the Welsh Government by Digital Health and Care Wales (DHCW). The Maternity Indicators dataset was established in 2016. It combines records from a mother’s initial assessment with a child’s birth record and enabled Welsh Government to monitor its initial set of outcome indicators and performance measures (Maternity Indicators) which were established to measure the effectiveness and quality of Welsh maternity services. The Maternity Indicators dataset allows us to analyse characteristics of the mother’s pregnancy and birth process. The process for producing this data extract is complex largely because there can be multiple initial assessment data and records for both initial assessments and births are not always complete. Full details of every data item available in the Maternity Indicators dataset are available through the NHS Wales Data Dictionary: http://www.datadictionary.wales.nhs.uk/#!WordDocuments/datasetstructure20.htm The mental health conditions listed on the record are categorised as: puerperal psychosis (severe postnatal depression); bi-polar effective disorder/manic depression; psychosis; psychotic depression; schizophrenia; and other (any other mental health condition). The data dictionary also defines how ethnic groups are classified, namely: White (any white background); Asian (Pakistani, Bangladeshi, Chinese, Indian, any other Asian background); Mixed/multiple (white and Asian, white and black African, white and black Caribbean, any other mixed background); Other (any other ethnic group); Black (African, Caribbean, any other black background).

Number and percentage of live births, by month of birth, 1991 to most recent year.

Association between assisted reproductive technology and severe maternal morbidity, using unadjusted and adjusted models for all covariates.

Listening to Mothers II, a national survey of women who gave birth in U.S. hospitals in 2005, continued to break new ground. In addition to documenting many core items measured in the first survey, the second survey also explored earlier topics in greater depth and some new and timely topics. Topics covered in Listening to Mothers II report include: Planning for pregnancy and the pregnancy experience — prenatal care, childbirth education, TV shows depicting birth and more; Women's ex perience giving birth — caregivers, labor induction and other interventions, feelings while giving birth, vaginal and cesarean births, and more; Home with a new baby — breastfeeding, physical well-being, mental health and more; Experience with employment and health insurance; Choice, control, knowledge and decision making — who should make decisions, knowledge needed for decisions, pressure to have interventions and more; Some important variation — comparisons between women with vaginal birth and cesarean section, first-time and experienced mothers and by race/ethnicity.