Maternal Mortality Rates in the United States, 2022

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by Donna L. Hoyert, Ph.D., Division of Vital Statistics

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This report presents maternal mortality rates for 2022 based on data from the National Vital Statistics System. A maternal death is defined by the World Health Organization as “the death of a woman while pregnant or within 42 days of termination of pregnancy, irrespective of the duration and the 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 rates—the number of maternal deaths per 100,000 live births—are shown in this report by age group and race and Hispanic origin.

This report updates a previous one that showed maternal mortality rates for 2018–2021 (2). In 2022, 817 women died of maternal causes in the United States, compared with 1,205 in 2021, 861 in 2020, 754 in 2019, and 658 in 2018 (2). The maternal mortality rate for 2022 decreased to 22.3 deaths per 100,000 live births, compared with a rate of 32.9 in 2021 (Figure 1 and Table).

In 2022, maternal mortality rates decreased significantly for Black non-Hispanic (subsequently, Black), White non-Hispanic (subsequently, White), and Hispanic women (Figure 2 and Table). The observed decrease for Asian non-Hispanic women (subsequently, Asian) was not statistically significant. In 2022, the maternal mortality rate for Black women was 49.5 deaths per 100,000 live births and was significantly higher than rates for White (19.0), Hispanic (16.9), and Asian (13.2) women.

Rates decreased significantly for each age group from 2021 to 2022 (Figure 3 and Table). Rates in 2022 were 14.4 deaths per 100,000 live births for women younger than 25, 21.1 for those ages 25–39, and 87.1 for those age 40 and older. The rate for women age 40 and older was six times higher than the rate for women younger than age 25. Differences in the rates between age groups were statistically significant.

Data source and methods

Data are from the National Vital Statistics System mortality file (3). Consistent with previous reports, the number of maternal deaths does not include all deaths occurring to pregnant or recently pregnant women, but only those deaths with the underlying cause of death assigned to International Statistical Classification of Diseases, 10th Revision codes A34, O00–O95, and O98–O99. Maternal mortality rates are per 100,000 live births, based on data from the National Vital Statistics System natality file. Maternal mortality rates fluctuate from year to year because of the relatively small number of these events, and possibly because of issues with the accuracy of reporting of maternal deaths on death certificates (4). Efforts to improve data quality are ongoing, and these data will continue to be evaluated for possible errors. Data are shown for only the four largest race and Hispanic-origin groups for which statistically reliable rates can be calculated, and numbers and rates are suppressed for those groups for which statistically reliable rates cannot be calculated (5). Additional details and data on provisional maternal mortality rates are available (6,7).

References

  1. World Health Organization. International statistical classification of diseases and related health problems, 10th revision. 2008 ed. 2009.
  2. Hoyert DL. Maternal mortality rates in the United States, 2021. NCHS Health E-Stats. 2023. DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.15620/cdc:124678.
  3. Kochanek KD, Murphy SL, Xu JQ, Arias E. Mortality in the United States, 2022. NCHS Data Brief, no 492. Hyattsville, MD: National Center for Health Statistics. 2024. DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.15620/cdc:135850.
  4. Hoyert DL, Miniño AM. Maternal mortality in the United States: Changes in coding, publication, and data release, 2018. National Vital Statistics Reports; vol 69 no 2. Hyattsville, MD: National Center for Health Statistics. 2020.
  5. Kochanek KD, Murphy SL, Xu JQ, Arias E. Deaths: Final data for 2020. National Vital Statistics Reports; vol 72 no 10. Hyattsville, MD: National Center for Health Statistics. 2023. DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.15620/cdc:131355.
  6. National Center for Health Statistics. Maternal mortality. Available from: https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/maternal-mortality/index.htm.
  7. National Center for Health Statistics. Provisional maternal mortality rates. Available from: https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/nvss/vsrr/provisional-maternal-deaths-rates.htm.

Suggested citation

Hoyert DL. Maternal mortality rates in the United States, 2022. NCHS Health E-Stats. 2024. DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.15620/cdc/152992.

Figures

Figure 1. Maternal mortality rate: United States, 2018–2022

Figure 1 is a line graph of the maternal mortality rate for 2018–2022.
1Statistically significant change from previous year (p < 0.05).
SOURCE: National Center for Health Statistics, National Vital Statistics System, mortality data files.

Figure 2. Maternal mortality rate, by race and Hispanic origin: United States, 2021 and 2022

Figure 2 is a bar chart of the maternal mortality rate by race and Hispanic origin in the United States in 2021 and 2022.
1Statistically significant decrease from previous year (p < 0.05).
2Hispanic people may be of any race.
NOTE: Race groups are single race.
SOURCE: National Center for Health Statistics, National Vital Statistics System, mortality data files.

Figure 3. Maternal mortality rate, by age group: United States, 2021 and 2022

Figure 3 is a bar chart of the maternal mortality rate by age group in the United States in 2021 and 2022.
1Statistically significant decrease from previous year (p < 0.05).
SOURCE: National Center for Health Statistics, National Vital Statistics System, mortality data files.

Table

Table. Number of live births and maternal deaths, and maternal mortality rates, by race and Hispanic origin and age: United States, 2018–2022

Table 1. Number of live births, maternal deaths, and maternal mortality rates, by race and Hispanic origin and age: United States, 2018-2020
Race and Hispanic origin and age 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022
Number of live births Number of deaths Maternal mortality rate1 Number of live births Number of deaths Maternal mortality rate1 Number of live births Number of deaths Maternal mortality rate1 Number of live births Number of deaths Maternal mortality rate1 Number of live births Number of deaths Maternal mortality rate1
Total2 3,791,712 658 17.4 3,747,540 754 20.1 3,613,647 861 23.8 3,664,292 1,205 32.9 3,667,758 817 22.3
Under 25 907,782 96 10.6 877,803 111 12.6 825,403 114 13.8 797,334 163 20.4 784,299 113 14.4
 25–39 2,756,974 458 16.6 2,739,976 544 19.9 2,658,445 607 22.8 2,731,223 854 31.3 2,738,802 578 21.1
40 and over 126,956 104 81.9 129,761 98 75.5 129,799 140 107.9 135,735 188 138.5 144,657 126 87.1
Asian, Non-Hispanic 3 240,798 32 13.3 238,769 33 13.8 219,068 27 12.3 213,813 36 16.8 218,994 29 13.2
Under 25 16,338 * * 15,071 * * 12,993 * * 11,149 * 41.5 11,002 * *
25–39 211,331 25 11.8 210,177 28 13.3 193,139 20 10.4 189,405 24 12.7 193,025 21 10.9
40 and over 13,129 * * 13,521 * * 12,936 * * 13,259 * * 14,967 * *
Non-Hispanic Black3 552,029 206 37.3 548,075 241 44.0 529,811 293 55.3 517,889 362 69.9 511,439 253 49.5
Younger than 25 176,243 27 15.3 169,853 32 18.8 159,541 46 28.8 149,435 62 41.5 140,498 44 31.3
25–39 358,276 137 38.2 360,206 179 49.7 351,648 198 56.3 349,170 242 69.3 349,740 172 49.2
40 and over 17,510 42 239.9 18,016 30 166.5 18,622 49 263.1 19,284 58 300.8 21,201 37 174.5
Non-Hispanic White3 1,956,413 291 14.9 1,915,912 343 17.9 1,843,432 352 19.1 1,887,656 503 26.6 1,840,739 350 19.0
Under 25 391,829 41 10.5 374,129 49 13.1 348,666 40 11.5 336,792 57 16.9 324,604 35 10.8
25–39 1,504,888 207 13.8 1,480,595 248 16.8 1,433,839 253 17.6 1,486,249 364 24.5 1,449,365 259 17.9
40 and over 59,696 43 72.0 61,188 46 75.2 60,927 59 96.8 64,615 82 126.9 66,770 56 83.9
Hispanic 886,210 105 11.8 886,467 112 12.6 866,713 158 18.2 885,916 248 28.0 937,421 158 16.9
Under 25 275,553 21 7.6 270,948 23 8.5 258,635 20 7.7 255,806 36 14.1 264,310 25 9.5
25–39 579,553 72 12.4 584,109 71 12.2 576,690 111 19.2 597,703 184 30.8 637,735 108 16.9
40 and over 31,104 12 * 31,410 18 * 31,388 27 86.0 32,407 28 86.4 35,376 25 70.7

*Estimate does not meet National Center for Health Statistics standards of reliability.
1Deaths per 100,000 live births.
2Total includes deaths for race and Hispanic-origin groups not shown separately, including women of multiple races and origin not stated.
3Race groups are single race.
4Hispanic people may be of any race.

NOTES: Maternal causes are those assigned to codes A34, O00–O95, and O98–O99 of the International Classification of Diseases, 10th Revision, 1992. Maternal deaths occur while pregnant or within 42 days of being pregnant.

SOURCE: National Center for Health Statistics, National Vital Statistics System, mortality and natality data files.