Fact sheet: Pregnancy-Related Deaths in the United States, 1987-1990

Frequency of Pregnancy-Related Deaths

• From 1987 through 1990, 1,459 deaths in the United States were reported to be pregnancy-related. A pregnancy-related death is one that occurs during pregnancy or within 1 year of its end and is a result of complications of the pregnancy or a condition that was aggravated by the pregnancy.

• Each year, 300-500 pregnancy-related deaths are identified in the United States. However, another 500-800 such deaths are probably not identified as being pregnancy related.

• Up to one half of pregnancy-related deaths could be prevented.

• A higher risk of pregnancy-related death has been found among women older than 35 years, women who have had several children, women who receive no prenatal care, black women, and unmarried women.

• The leading causes of pregnancy-related death are hemorrhage (bleeding), pulmonary embolism (sudden blockage in the lungs by a blood clot or amniotic fluid), and preeclampsia or eclampsia (high blood pressure during pregnancy).

• Other causes include infection, heart disease, and complications from anesthesia.

CDC Activities

• In 1987, CDC collaborated with the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG), the National Association of Public Health Statistics and Information Systems, and state and local health departments to initiate the national Pregnancy Mortality Surveillance System (PMSS). By relying on multiple reporting sources, PMSS has improved the accuracy and completeness of reporting.

• The CDC/ACOG Maternal Mortality Study Group, through short- and long- term technical assistance and collaborations, supports efforts to improve the identification and investigation of death and illness due to pregnancy.

Opportunities to Further Understand and Reduce Pregnancy-Related Deaths

• Develop, implement, and evaluate community-level education and prevention programs for families and providers to promote good health among mothers and infants.

• Enhance national surveillance to monitor trends, identify clusters of deaths, track progress in achieving national goals, and guide clinicians in developing prevention strategies.

• Establish active, state-based pregnancy-related surveillance systems to identify and investigate each death to learn how these deaths can be prevented.

• Conduct pregnancy-related death reviews that assess both medical factors and other possible factors such as quality of care, access to and use of services, socioeconomic circumstances, and behaviors during pregnancy.

• Establish and expand prevention research programs to develop interventions to prevent pregnancy-related illness and death.

• Strengthen collaborations between public health agencies, states, advocacy organizations, professional organizations, businesses, and managed care organizations.

• The complete report may be printed by downloading the Special Focus: Surveillance for Reproductive Health MMWR August 8, 1997 / Vol. 46/ No. SS-4 (796KB PDF).

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