Maternal death rates have been consistently highest among Black women. But they are also rising among other racial groups.
JGI/Tom Grill/Getty Images/Tetra images RF
Dr. Catherine Spong, from UT Southwestern Medical Center, was one of the physicians interviewed in NPR's recent article about maternal deaths in the U.S. Among the risk factors for pregnancy-related deaths are conditions like cardiovascular disease, severe pre-eclampsia, maternal cardiac disease and hemorrhage, says Dr. Spong. The article describes a recent study in the Journal of the American Medical Association that found "while...mortality rates remain 'unacceptably high among all racial and ethnic groups across the U.S.,' the worst outcomes were among Black women, Native American and Alaska Native people.'"