Racial gap widened in deaths among U.S. moms around the time of childbirth Black women in the U.S. died at a rate nearly 3.5 times higher white women around the time of childbirth in 2023, as maternal mortality fell below prepandemic levels overall but racial gaps widened, according to federal health data released Wednesday.
The maternal death rate for white women dropped from 19 deaths per 100,000 live births in 2022 to 14.5 per 100,000 in 2023.
In 2021 and 2022, the maternal death rate for Black women was about 2.6 times higher than white women.
U.S. births have been declining, and fewer pregnancies contributes to fewer pregnancy-related deaths, noted Eugene Declercq, a maternal deaths researcher at Boston University.
But Declercq said his analysis of available data suggests the number of 2024 maternal deaths may end up about the same as 2023.
