—Kerry Hill, B1Daily

Giving birth in America remains dramatically more dangerous for Black women than for white women, and the latest federal numbers show the gap remains enormous.

In 2024, the maternal mortality rate for non-Hispanic Black women was 44.8 deaths per 100,000 live births, compared with 14.2 for white women and 12.1 for Hispanic women. That means Black women experienced a maternal mortality rate more than three times that of white women.

The disparity cannot simply be dismissed as a matter of individual choices. Maternal outcomes can be affected by access to quality prenatal and postpartum care, underlying health conditions, insurance and economic circumstances, and differences in the quality of healthcare patients receive.

Age also dramatically increases the danger. Across all racial groups, women 40 and older experienced a maternal mortality rate of 62.3 deaths per 100,000 births in 2024. Among Black women 40 and older, however, the rate reached an extraordinary 147.8 deaths per 100,000 live births.

Reducing the disparity requires more than telling women to take better care of themselves. It requires strong prenatal and postpartum care, earlier identification of complications, access to qualified medical providers and healthcare systems that respond quickly when pregnant women report warning signs.

America possesses some of the world’s most advanced medical technology. Black mothers should not continue experiencing maternal mortality at several times the rate of white mothers.

A healthy pregnancy should not depend this heavily on the color of the mother.

—Kerry Hill, B1Daily