Black Maternal Mortality
3.3×
Black women die from pregnancy-related causes at 3.3 times the rate of white women
Black women in the United States die from pregnancy-related causes at 3.3 times the rate of white women — a disparity that has persisted for decades despite overall improvements in maternal health. In 2021, the maternal mortality rate for Black women reached 69.9 deaths per 100,000 live births, compared to 26.6 for white women. Even as the overall rate declined in 2022 (49.5 for Black women), the disparity remains stark and is the widest of any race-based maternal health gap worldwide.
The causes are multifactorial. Provider implicit bias leads to undertreating pain and dismissing symptoms in Black patients. Geographic disparities leave many Black mothers in maternity care deserts — counties with no hospital offering obstetric care and no OB-GYN or midwife in practice. Chronic conditions including hypertension and diabetes, which are more prevalent in Black women, elevate baseline risk. Medicaid coverage gaps in non-expansion states cut off prenatal care for low-income mothers.
State variation is enormous. Louisiana, Mississippi, and Georgia have some of the highest Black maternal mortality rates in the nation. California, by contrast, has reduced Black maternal mortality through targeted quality improvement initiatives including the CA-PAMR review process and implicit bias training mandates. The policy levers exist — the will to deploy them remains the challenge.
Black maternal mortality rate by state (per 100k live births)
States in grey have suppressed data due to small cell counts.
Top 10 states by Black maternal mortality rate
Ranked by Black maternal mortality rate per 100k live births.
| Rank | State | Black rate per 100k | White rate per 100k | Ratio | Year |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Source: CDC WONDER Multiple Cause of Death database, ICD-10 O00-O99, 2022.
Black vs. white maternal mortality, 2010–2023
Rates per 100,000 live births. CDC National Vital Statistics System.
Deaths per 100k live births
Source: CDC National Vital Statistics System
Methodology
Data compiled from CDC WONDER's Multiple Cause of Death database, restricted to ICD-10 codes for pregnancy-related deaths (O00–O99) and women aged 15–54. State-level aggregation follows the National Center for Health Statistics Method for State-level Maternal Mortality ratios. States with fewer than 10 events in a year are suppressed to protect privacy and statistical reliability. Rates are expressed per 100,000 live births. Race categories reflect self-reported race on death certificates.
Cite this page
APA
Black Health. (2026). Black Maternal Mortality. Black Health Data Hub. https://blackhealth.org/data/black-maternal-mortality/
BibTeX
@misc{blackhealth_blackmaternalmortality_2026,
title = {Black Maternal Mortality},
author = {{Black Health}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://blackhealth.org/data/black-maternal-mortality/},
note = {Accessed March 15, 2026}
}
Direct link
https://blackhealth.org/data/black-maternal-mortality/
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License: Data compiled from public CDC NCHS sources — public domain