Maternal Mortality
There are several definitions used in association with maternal mortality. Here we use the term pregnancy-related deaths, as used by the CDC Pregnancy Mortality Surveillance System. This includes deaths that occur while a woman is pregnant or “within 1 year of the end of a pregnancy –regardless of the outcome, duration or site of the pregnancy–from any cause related to or aggravated by the pregnancy or its management, but not from accidental or incidental causes.”1
Maternal Mortality Burden in Indian Country
American Indian / Alaska Native (AI/AN) populations face a significant maternal mortality burden. Specifically, AI/AN women have a pregnancy-related mortality rate two times that of non-Hispanic white women (29.7 deaths per 100,000 live births compared to 12.7).2
While the social determinants of health play an overall role in Indian Country’s maternal mortality rates, the top cause-specific pregnancy-related mortalities for AI/AN women are due to hemorrhage, cardiomyopathy, or other non-cardiovascular medical conditions (as shown on the left):2
In general, racial misclassification and the relatively small sample size of AI/AN women have prevented the issue of maternal mortality in Indian Country from gaining national attention.3 In addition, minimal research exists on the social factors related to poor delivery and birth outcomes for AI/AN women. However, available research focuses primarily on health care (including health insurance coverage and access to affordable, high-quality health care) as a contributing factor to the maternal mortality burden.4 This is certainly worth noting as approximately 41% of AI/AN women do not receive the recommended number of prenatal visits5 and, compared to the non-Hispanic white population, AI/AN populations are more than twice as likely to lack medical insurance, meaning they may struggle to pay for—or even access—necessary services.6
- https://www.cdc.gov/reproductivehealth/maternal-mortality/pregnancy-mortality-surveillance-system.htm
- https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/68/wr/mm6835a3.htm
- https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/early-childhood/news/2018/07/09/451344/american-indian-alaska-native-maternal-infant-mortality-challenges-opportunities/
- https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/early-childhood/news/2018/07/09/451344/american-indian-alaska-native-maternal- infant-mortality-challenges-opportunities/
- https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/hpdata2010/hp2010_final_review.pdf
- https://www.kff.org/report-section/key-facts-on-health-and-health-care-by-race-and-ethnicity-section-4-health-coverage/
