CDC’s Maternal Mortality Review Data Brief

The Federal agency, The Center for Disease Control (CDC) shared a new brief on Maternal Mortality Review (MMR) with updated 2008-2017 data on pregnancy-related deaths from 14 Maternal Mortality Review Committees (MMRCs). Arizona, Colorado, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, Ohio, South Carolina, Tennessee and Utah voluntarily shared their data through the Maternal Mortality Review Information Application (MMRIA). MMRIA supports and standardizes record abstraction, documentation of committee decisions, and routine analyses.

Key findings include the following:

Approximately 1 in 3 deaths among women during or within a year of pregnancy were pregnancy-related.
Leading causes of death varied by race-ethnicity. Cardiomyopathy and cardiovascular conditions were the two leading underlying causes of pregnancy-related deaths among non-Hispanic Black women. In contrast, mental health conditions (e.g., suicide, overdose) was the leading underlying cause of death among non-Hispanic White women.
MMRCs determined that 2 out of 3 deaths were preventable. The percent of deaths determined to be preventable did not significantly differ between non-Hispanic Black and non-Hispanic White women nor between Hispanic and non-Hispanic White women.

Overdose and suicide among top causes of death for new moms in California, study finds

A research study into the top causes of death during pregnancy and one year postpartum of California mothers found overdose and suicide the leading causes of maternal death.

https://amp.sacbee.com/news/local/health-and-medicine/article231540723.html

Note: California’s Department of Public Health commissioned its Mortality Review Committee which is facilitated by Stanford University’s California Maternal Quality Care Collaborative, to specifically look at maternal suicide. Its report is set to be released shortly.

https://www.cmqcc.org