America is the least safe place out of any wealthy country for women to give birth, a new report suggests.
The US had a maternal mortality rate — the rate of women who died while pregnant or in the moments or weeks after giving birth— of 22 per 100,000 live births in 2022.
This was the highest rate out of the 14 high-income nations in Europe, Asia, South America and Oceania that were studied in the report.
It means American women are nine times more likely to die during or shortly after pregnancy compared to those in Sweden and four times more likely than British women.
The above graph shows the maternal mortality rate by nation. The rate is that of women who died while pregnant, during childbirth or up to 42 days after giving birth with their cause of death related to pregnancy
The report also found that the US has the second-lowest number of midwives and ob-gyns per live births among high-income nations, which may be contributing to the country’s high maternal mortality rates.
Up to a third of roles are currently unfilled according to estimates.
The researchers point out that the US is the only country out of the group of nations that did not mandate any form of paid maternity leave for pregnant women — which may explain the high rate of suicides among new moms in the US.
America was also the only one not to have universal healthcare coverage, with an estimated eight million women, or 12 percent of those of reproductive age, uninsured.
They said high medical expenses may have also played a role in some of the deaths.
The report analyzed the maternal mortality rate, which is defined as deaths among women during pregnancy, childbirth or up to 42 days after giving birth. All deaths were linked to the pregnancy in some way.
The US had the worst rate in the group overall, followed by Chile (14.3 maternal deaths per 100,000 live births) and New Zealand.
At the other end of the scale was Norway, where no maternal deaths were recorded over the year 2022.
In second place was Switzerland, with 1.2 maternal deaths per 100,000, and in third was Sweden, at 2.6.
The above shows pregnancy-related deaths across the US by when they occurred, the majority happen after childbirth
The above shows the number of midwives and ob-gyns per patient, with the US having the second lowest number out of the rich nations
Australia ranked in sixth place with a rate of 3.5 per 100,000 — or six times lower than that in the US — and the UK ranked in eighth place.
The most common causes of death were severe bleeding, high blood pressure or infections and cardiomyopathy — or a disease of the heart.
Separate data also showed the US had the second-lowest number of midwives and ob-gyns per live births among high-income nations, putting further strain on the medical system.
Chile has the largest supply of ob-gyns and midwives, with 92 staff per 1,000 live births.
In the U.S. there are just 16 ob-gyns and midwives for every 1,000 live births, according to the report, published by New York City-based think-tank the Commonwealth Fund, compared the maternal mortality rate in the US to that in similar nations.
The countries included in the report were: Australia, Canada, France, Germany, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and the United States.
Researchers used data on the maternal mortality rate (MMR) from the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) to compare the nations.
Among mothers to have lost their lives after childbirth in the US was 30-year-old Christine Fields from Long Island City.
She was admitted to Woodhull Hospital, in Brooklyn, in November 2023 for her third childbirth — but died hours later from hemorrhaging.
Jasmine Patton, 34, from Tennessee, died from liver failure after giving birth. Her family said there were question marks over her death
Her family is now suing the hospital for $41million, saying she received careless and negligent care. They claim the mother suffered cuts to her blood vessels which caused the internal bleeding.
And in another case, 34-year-old Jasmine Patton, from Chattanooga, Tennessee, died just two days after giving birth to her first child.
The mother, who had struggled to get pregnant for years before using IVF, had her cause of death described as liver failure.
Her family said her death was ‘unexpected’, and that there were a lot of question marks over the fatality for doctors.
