The validity of U.S. maternal mortality rates is a matter of debate

A brand new study published by The Guardian shows that current maternal mortality rates reported by the CDC within the US are overestimated.

Tests underlineIts alternative resolution suggests counting maternal mortality only when the cause listed on death certificates clearly indicates pregnancy.

The publication noted that errors may occur in data collection, especially because the CDC collects this information through direct reporting by physicians of patients’ causes of death. It was also determined what role changes in access to abortion across the country played. States with restricted or banned access have higher maternal mortality rates.

However, the CDC has rejected claims that their data misleads Americans concerning the state of the maternal mortality crisis. In her opinion, changing the categorization will result in further disinformation and marginalization of the problems causing it.

“Reducing the U.S. maternal mortality crisis to an ‘overstatement’ is irresponsible and minimizes the death toll and the number of families that have been deeply impacted,” explained Dr. Christopher Zahn, interim CEO of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists.

The CDC also noted that it has addressed these data collection challenges in past reports. The health organization has also implemented additional measures to make sure the accuracy of these growing statistics. These include the failure to incorporate a pregnancy checkbox on the death certificates of women aged 45 or older. They maintain that their current calculations, even in the event that they exceed the actual number, still appropriately indicate that the speed is rising.

“We are quite confident that there has been an increase (in maternal mortality), particularly during the pandemic,” said C Robert Anderson, chief of mortality statistics on the CDC.NN. We went from underestimation to overestimation, so we needed to make this adjustment. However, I’m absolutely certain that the increases since 2018 are real.”

However, implementing the study in two time frames differs from the CDC numbers. Although the CDC noted a rise in maternal mortality, the study found the speed stagnated between 1999-2022 and 2018-2021.

Regardless of the stark numbers, maternal mortality continues to hit black women the toughest. The latest study also confirmed that their numbers remain higher than other racial groups. This rate is almost 3 times higher than their white counterparts, even using the choice method.

While division stays on one of the best strategy to go about tracking maternal mortality, CDC continues to strive to handle groups and aspects critical to this issue.