What Explains the United States’ Dismal Maternal Mortality Rates?
November 19, 2015
5th floor, Woodrow Wilson Center
Washington, DC
From 1990 to 2013, the maternal mortality rate more than doubled in the United States from 12 to 28 deaths per 100,000 live births. Globally, the United States ranks worse than most developed nations, at 65th in the world. Contributing to these dismal numbers are deep inequities in health across race, socioeconomic status, and geography. Black women die at a rate that ranges from three to four times the rate of their white counterparts, a difference that has remained largely unchanged over six decades.
However, disparities in underlying health are not sufficient to fully explain unequal rates of maternal mortality in the United States, and the quality of care received is also a significant factor.
Join us for a discussion on inequities in U.S. maternal mortality within the context of global maternal health goals. Panelists will outline various health system, reproductive justice, and community approaches to addressing these inequities.