Racial Disparities in Maternal Health

This report examines the federal role in addressing racial disparities in maternal health, including negative pregnancy-related health outcomes and pregnancy-related deaths of women in the United States. As attention of these disparities increases, so does the focus on disparities such as, Black women in the U.S. are three to four times more likely to die from pregnancy-related complications than white women in the U.S., and Native American women are more than two times more likely to die from pregnancy-related complications than white women in the U.S. These disparities have become more severe over the last thirty years.