Maternal Death

Pregnant women are more likely to die of violence than any medical cause in the U.S. and are at greater risk for violent death compared with nonpregnant women, underscoring the need for intimate partner violence screening, data show.

The decline in maternal deaths after the Dobbs decision was likely affected by a spike in COVID-19-related deaths during 2021, complicating efforts to assess the ramifications of restrictions on abortion access, researchers reported.

The maternal death rate significantly increased in 2021, with rates among Black people more than double that of their white counterparts, according to data from the CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics.

A pregnancy- or childbirth-related death occurred once every 2 minutes in 2020, marking significant shortcomings in women’s health over the last several years, according to a new report developed by United Nations agencies.

During 2020, the rate of pregnancy-associated death increased by 35% from 2019, with changes observed in the proportions of drug-related deaths, homicides and suicides, researchers reported.

Risk for a hypertensive disorder of pregnancy after a frozen embryo transfer was substantially higher than after natural conception, even when controlling for constant parental characteristics within sibships, researchers reported.

Pregnancy-associated suicide was linked to mental health issues and substance use, and pregnancy-associated homicide was linked to intimate partner violence, according to a retrospective cohort study published in Obstetrics & Gynecology.

Risks for severe maternal morbidity and mortality appeared higher among pregnancies complicated by cancer, according to study results in a research letter published in JAMA Oncology.

Adverse maternal and cardiovascular outcomes were more likely in pregnant women with cardiomyopathy compared with those who had a different or no heart disease, findings of a systematic review and meta-analysis showed.

Chronic hypertension is a substantial contributor to maternal deaths in the United States, with particular risk among Black women, according to a study published in Hypertension.