By Dr. Gregory L. Hall, MD
In 2024, Black women in the United States died during pregnancy or within six weeks after at a rate of 44.8 per 100,000 live births. For White women, the rate was 14.2. That is about 3.2 times higher, and the gap has held for decades.
Most of these deaths can be stopped. When state review committees examined more than 1,000 pregnancy-related deaths, they judged more than 84% to be preventable.
This is not a problem for obstetricians alone. Most of the conditions that kill Black mothers are heart, blood pressure and clotting problems that begin before pregnancy and continue long after delivery. Primary care doctors, cardiologists, emergency physicians and the women themselves all have a role.
Most of these deaths can be stopped.
