Maternal mortality leading causes by ethnicity U.S. 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.

Distribution of pregnancy-related deaths in 38 U.S. states in 2020, by underlying cause and race/ethnicity

Characteristic	Hispanic	Non-Hispanic Asian	Non-Hispanic Black	Non-Hispanic white
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Release date

May 2024

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Region

United States

Survey time period

2020

Number of respondents

525 respondents

Special properties

Data From Maternal Mortality Review Committees in 38 U.S. States

Supplementary notes

* Mental health conditions include deaths of suicide, overdose/poisoning related to substance use disorder, and other deaths determined by the MMRC to be related to a mental health condition, including substance use disorder.

Notes from the source: "Data were shared for aggregate analysis by jurisdictional MMRCs through MMRIA. MMRIA supports standardized record abstraction, case summary development, documentation of committee decisions, and analysis. Data analyzed included information on pregnancy-related deaths that occurred in 2020 among residents of these 38 states: Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Utah, Washington, Wisconsin, and Wyoming."

"Pregnancy-related: A death during pregnancy or within 1 year of the end of pregnancy from a pregnancy complication, a chain of events initiated by pregnancy, or the aggravation of an unrelated condition by the physiologic effects of pregnancy. In addition to having a temporal relationship to pregnancy, these deaths are causally related to pregnancy or its management."

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