A growing problem

A pregnancy-related death is the death of a woman while pregnant or within one year of the end of a pregnancy. More than half the pregnancy-related deaths happen after childbirth.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the number of reported pregnancy-related deaths in the United States in 2014 was 18 deaths per 100,000 live births. That's up from 7.2 deaths per 100,000 live births in 1987. Research also shows racial disparities. From 2011 to 2014, the pregnancy-related mortality ratios for black women were more than three times higher than for white women.