Deaths From Pregnancy / Childbirth Have Surged In Texas

 The following is part of an article in The Texas Tribune:

The rate of Texas women who died because of pregnancy or childbirth rose sharply in 2020 and 2021 to the highest since the state started tracking maternal deaths in 2013. Even excluding deaths related to COVID-19, the numbers were worse than usual, reversing two years of progress in driving the maternal mortality rate downwards.

The Texas Maternal Mortality and Morbidity Review Committee released its report this month analyzing pregnancy-related deaths within one year of childbirth. The committee, which works on a several year delay, closely analyzed cases from 2020.

The maternal mortality rate in 2020 was 27.7 deaths per 100,000 live births, compared to 17.2 in 2019. With COVID-related deaths excluded, the rate was 24.2.

But the report shows, once again, that maternal mortality does not impact every community equally. Black women are about 2.5 times more likely to die from pregnancy and childbirth than white women. Both Black and Hispanic women saw a sharp increase in pregnancy-related mortality between 2019 and 2020 — for Hispanic women the rate increased nearly 9 points to 22.2, and for Black women more than 11 points to 39. But white women actually saw an improvement, with the mortality rate dropping nearly 3 points to 16.1.

In 80% of these cases, the committee determined there was at least some chance of saving the patient’s life – a decline from 90% from the previous report. A quarter of women died due to infections, the most common cause of death, followed by cardiovascular conditions, obstetric hemorrhage, embolisms and mental health conditions.