Study: Maternal mortality up in U.S., down globally

The maternal mortality rate in the United States has risen in recent years despite improvements in health care and an overwhelming global trend in the other direction (Source: “Maternal Mortality Rate in U.S. Rises, Defying Global Trend, Study Finds,” New York Times, Sept. 21, 2016).

One of the biggest worldwide public health triumphs in recent years has been maternal mortality. Global death rates fell by more than a third from 2000 to 2015. The United States, however, is one of the few countries in the world that have gone against the grain, new data show.

The United States has become an outlier among rich nations in maternal deaths, according to data released this week by the Institute of Health Metrics and Evaluation, a research group funded by the Gates Foundation and based at the University of Washington.

There were 28 maternal deaths — defined as deaths due to complications from pregnancy or childbirth — per 100,000 births in the United States in 2013, up from 23 in 2005, the Institute found. The rate in 2013, the most recent year for which the Institute had detailed data for the United States, was more than triple Canada’s. The Institute is projecting that the American rate dipped in the last two years to 25 by 2015.

Increases were extremely rare among wealthy countries. In all, 24 countries had an increase from 2000 to 2015, including South Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo, though their rates were much higher. America’s increase put it above a number of poorer countries whose rates had declined with the global trend, including Iran, Vietnam, Russia and Romania.