By the numbers: Health disparities in pregnancy

Approximately 700 women die each year in the U.S. as a result of pregnancy-related complications.

American Indian/Alaska Native women and African American women are 2 to 4 times more likely to die from pregnancy-related causes than white women.

Black women under age 20 are 1.5 times more likely to die from pregnancy-related causes than white women in the same age group.

Black women ages 30–34 are 4.3 times more likely to die from pregnancy-related causes than white women of the same ages.

In the U.S., stillbirths are more than twice as likely among Black women than among white women.

Approximately two-thirds of all pregnancy-related deaths may be preventable, supporting the need for more research to improve maternal health outcomes.