Around 260,000 women die during or after pregnancy and childbirth each year worldwide. That works out to roughly 710 deaths every single day. The global maternal mortality ratio stands at 197 deaths per 100,000 live births as of 2023, a significant improvement from 460 per 100,000 in 1985, but still far higher than it needs to be.
What Counts as a Maternal Death
A maternal death includes any death caused by or related to pregnancy or its complications, from the start of pregnancy through 42 days after delivery. This means it captures not just deaths during labor itself, but deaths from pregnancy-related conditions in the weeks that follow. Accidental causes unrelated to pregnancy are excluded.
The timing of these deaths may surprise you. Only about 17% of maternal deaths happen on the actual day of delivery. Roughly 31% occur during pregnancy before labor begins, and the largest share, about 52%, happens in the postpartum period, the days and weeks after the baby is born. This is one reason postpartum care matters as much as the delivery itself.
The Leading Causes
Severe bleeding (hemorrhage) is the single biggest killer, responsible for about 27% of all maternal deaths globally. Most of that bleeding happens after delivery, not during it. The second most common category, at 23%, is indirect causes: pre-existing conditions like heart disease, diabetes, or HIV that pregnancy worsens. Hypertensive disorders, including dangerously high blood pressure and preeclampsia, account for another 16%. Infections (sepsis), mostly occurring postpartum, round out the major causes.
What makes these numbers especially tragic is that more than 80% of pregnancy-related deaths are considered preventable. That estimate comes from CDC Maternal Mortality Review Committees, which investigate individual deaths and assess whether timely, appropriate care could have changed the outcome. In most cases, it could have.
Maternal Deaths in the United States
In 2024, 649 women died of maternal causes in the United States, a rate of 17.9 deaths per 100,000 live births. That rate has hovered in a similar range in recent years (18.6 per 100,000 in 2023). While the U.S. rate is dramatically lower than the global average, it is notably higher than rates in other wealthy nations, many of which have maternal mortality ratios in the single digits.
Racial Disparities
The overall U.S. number obscures one of the starkest health disparities in the country. In 2023, Black women died at a rate of 50.3 per 100,000 live births. That is more than three times the rate for White women (14.5), four times the rate for Hispanic women (12.4), and nearly five times the rate for Asian women (10.7). These gaps persist even after accounting for income and education, pointing to systemic differences in the quality and accessibility of care.
How the Numbers Vary Around the World
The global average of 197 deaths per 100,000 live births masks enormous differences between regions. Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia carry the heaviest burden, driven by limited access to emergency obstetric care, fewer skilled birth attendants, and longer distances to hospitals. In many high-income countries across Europe and East Asia, the maternal mortality ratio falls below 10 per 100,000. The gap between the safest and most dangerous places to give birth spans roughly a hundredfold difference.
Progress has been real but uneven. The global ratio dropped by more than half since 1985, largely thanks to wider access to prenatal care, safer cesarean sections, and better treatment of hemorrhage and infection. But in some regions, progress has stalled or reversed in recent years, particularly where health systems face funding shortages or political instability.
Why So Many Deaths Are Preventable
The fact that over 80% of these deaths could be prevented tells you that the problem is largely one of systems, not medicine. The tools to stop postpartum hemorrhage exist and are inexpensive. Preeclampsia can be detected with a blood pressure cuff. Infections respond to antibiotics when caught early. The failures tend to be delayed recognition of warning signs, slow emergency response, poor coordination between providers, and gaps in postpartum follow-up.
In the U.S. specifically, many preventable deaths happen after hospital discharge, during the postpartum weeks when new mothers may have limited follow-up care. Warning signs like persistent headaches, excessive bleeding, chest pain, or swelling can signal life-threatening complications, but they are sometimes dismissed by patients and providers alike as normal postpartum discomfort. Recognizing these symptoms early and having a clear plan for getting urgent care are among the most practical steps that can close the gap between the deaths that happen and the deaths that don’t have to.