The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released a report yesterday showing that black and American Indian women are much more likely than white, Asian and Hispanic women to die pregnancy-related deaths.
The big picture: The trend held in states with the lowest maternal mortality rates and among women with higher levels of education, "demonstrating that the disparity in pregnancy-related mortality for black and [American Indian] women is a complex national problem," the CDC writes.
Between the lines: There are often multiple contributing factors to a pregnancy-related death, stemming from differences in access to care, quality of care and the prevalence of chronic disease, per the report.
- While 60% of pregnancy-related deaths are preventable, there's no significant differences in preventability based on race or ethnicity.
Go deeper: Most U.S. deaths from pregnancy complications are preventable
