HUNTSVILLE, Ala. (WHNT) — A report from the CDC shows fewer women are dying from pregnancy-related causes. However, there are still some sharp differences in mortality rates among women of different races.
News 19 reached out to Dr. Margaret Carter at Huntsville Hospital Maternal Fetal Medicine to discuss these findings.
Dr. Carter primarily treats women whose pregnancies may have an increased risk of complications. She also serves on the State of Alabama Maternal Mortality Review Committee.
The report from the CDC uses data from 2023 (the most recent available), which states the “maternal mortality rate for 2023 decreased to 18.6 deaths per 100,000 live births, compared with a rate of 22.3 in 2022.”
“There’s definitely an obvious discrepancy between the amount of maternal mortality for African-American women versus women that are not African American, so of any other race,” Dr. Carter said.
That same report said that Black women are three times more likely to die from a pregnancy-related cause than white women.
Earlier in April, the CDC joined in Black Maternal Health Week to bring attention and action to improving Black maternal health. The CDC said multiple factors contribute to this, such as variation in healthcare quality and underlying chronic conditions.
“We definitely need to look into that more and address the issues,” Dr. Carter said.
The CDC said most pregnancy-related deaths are preventable. Dr. Carter urges women who are pregnant to advocate for their own health.
“I think the big thing that I would recommend for pregnant women is to always advocate for themselves,” she said. “Not to the point where they’re not listening to their health care providers or taking recommendations, [but] just being more open to asking questions, understanding why things are being done the way that they’re done.”
In addition to taking charge of your health, Dr. Carter recommends getting any existing medical conditions under control before getting pregnant.
“For example, if you have diabetes, you want to have your diabetes well-controlled before you become pregnant,” Dr. Carter said.
The CDC said it is important for pregnant women to know some of the urgent maternal warning signs. Some of those are dizziness or fainting, extreme swelling of your hands or face and changes in your vision. Click here to view the full list.
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