U.S. Maternal Deaths on the Rise

Maternal mortality is down in most of the world. The bad news? The United States is among only eight countries in the world to see an increase in maternal mortality since 2003, according to a recent study.

The study, published in The Lancet just last week, details how researchers determined that 18.5 mothers died for every 100,000 live births in the U.S. in 2013 -- a figure more than double the maternal mortality in Canada, the United Kingdom, and even Saudi Arabia.

According to the study, which ranked 180 countries on maternal death rates in accordance with a systematic analysis of global data, the U.S. has failed to improve its maternal mortality, falling from a rank of 20 in 1990 to a rank of 60 for 2013.

The U.S. is one of only eight countries who failed to improve maternal mortality rates since 2003, sliding into the same category with low-income and war-torn countries such as Afghanistan and regions in Africa and Central America.

In contrast, China, who was ranked an abysmal 116 in 1990, has risen to the rank of 57, surpassing the U.S. in the number of mothers per every 100,000 live births who survived the ordeal.

According to the study, women between the ages of 20 and 24 are dying more frequently during birth in the U.S., with the rate of live-birth-related deaths in this age group nearly doubling since 1990.

While the study focused on simply detailing the maternal death rates for each country, study author Dr. Nicholas Kassebaum, Assistant Professor at the Institute for Health Metrics Evaluation, offered some explanations as to why maternal mortality is up in the U.S. in an accompanying press release.

"For American women, high-risk pregnancies and the number of women with inadequate access to preventive and maternal health care are just two potential causes of this trend," said Kassebaum. "The good news is that most maternal deaths are preventable, and we can do better."

Still, Kassebaum did not offer an explanation as to why high-risk pregnancies may be on the rise in the U.S.

The complete study was published in The Lancet on April 2.