Key interventions to improve maternal health outcomes include 1) integrating multidisciplinary care for women with high-risk comorbidities during preconception care, pregnancy, postpartum, and beyond; 2) addressing structural racism and the social determinants of health; 3) implementing hospital-wide safety bundles …

Infant mortality rates across the United States declined from 2000 to 2017, a trend attributed to fewer women giving birth in their teens, according to a study published Thursday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The causes of maternal death vary considerably and depend on when mothers die. These data are based on a report from maternal mortality review committees. During pregnancy, hemorrhage and cardiovascular conditions are the leading causes of death. At birth and shortly after, infection is the leading cause.

Causes of maternal mortality include postpartum hemorrhage, eclampsia, obstructed labor, and sepsis. Many developing nations lack adequate health care and family planning, and pregnant women have minimal access to skilled labor and emergency care.

To avoid maternal deaths, it is also vital to prevent unwanted pregnancies. All women, including adolescents, need access to contraception, safe abortion services to the full extent of the law, and quality post-abortion care.

Research published in the April 2015 issue of Obstetrics & Gynecology shows that 60 percent of preeclampsia-related maternal deaths were deemed preventable.

H.R. 1318, the Preventing Maternal Deaths Act, would establish and support state Maternal Mortality Review Committees to review every pregnancy-related or pregnancy-associated death, and based on those findings, develop recommendations for how to prevent future mothers’ deaths.