What a maternal-death rate includes

NCHS’s March 2026 report put the 2024 maternal mortality rate at 17.9 deaths per 100,000 live births, without a statistically significant decline from 2023. It counts deaths during pregnancy or within 42 days afterward from causes related to or aggravated by pregnancy, excluding accidental or incidental causes. Black non-Hispanic women had significantly higher rates than White non-Hispanic and Hispanic women. ^[1]

Today’s comparisons sit on a changing statistical system. NCHS’s January 2020 methods report explained that gradual state adoption of a pregnancy checkbox altered which deaths were identified. It restricted checkbox-only coding to ages 10–44 to reduce errors. That history cautions against treating a long time series as though its recording method never changed. ^[2]

CDC’s Pregnancy Mortality Surveillance System follows pregnancy-related deaths through one year after pregnancy, using medical-epidemiologist review of vital records and other available information. Its retained description also identifies missing jurisdictions in particular years. Readers comparing maternal-health figures need the system, follow-up window and reporting coverage, alongside a number labelled pregnancy-related. ^[3]

State and local review committees add a different inquiry. CDC describes multidisciplinary reviews that ask whether a death was pregnancy-related and preventable, what contributed, and what actions might address those contributors. That process connects records to prevention recommendations. A national rate alone cannot supply a case-level explanation or show that a recommended change was implemented. ^[4]

About this item: Retrospective report. No first-hand reporting or independent testing is claimed. Corrections policy.