ArticleObstetrics and gynecology2021
Maternal Mortality in the United States: Recent Trends, Current Status, and Future Considerations.
Article in Obstetrics and gynecology, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 62 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
62 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- A systematic review of psychosocial screening tools for identification of postpartum mental health status beyond depressive symptoms.Midwifery · 2025Pooled it
- Preventing posttraumatic stress disorder following childbirth: a systematic review and meta-analysis.American journal of obstetrics and gynecology · 2024Pooled it
- Home Visits and the Use of Routine and Emergency Postpartum Care Among Low-Income People: A Secondary Analysis of a Randomized Clinical Trial.JAMA network open · 2024Trial
- Association Between Racial Segregation of Labor and Delivery Services and Utilization of Trial of Labor and Vaginal Birth After Cesarean.Obstetrics and gynecology · 2026Observational
- Effect of improved uterotonic availability on postpartum hemorrhage and maternal morbidity after vaginal delivery, review of a single-center quality-improvement initiative.Pregnancy (Hoboken, N.J.) · 2026Article
- The Association between Maternal-Fetal Medicine Physician Density and Pregnancy Outcomes.American journal of perinatology · 2026Article
- Association of Pregnancy Documentation with Radiological Imaging in the Emergency Department.The western journal of emergency medicine · 2026Article
- Maternal and neonatal health in Canada's Black communities: A scoping review of epidemiologic studies.Canadian journal of public health = Revue canadienne de sante publique · 2026Article
- Intersectional Disparities in Severe Maternal Morbidity Across the Perinatal Continuum: A Population-Based Analysis.Journal of obstetrics and gynaecology Canada : JOGC = Journal d'obstetrique et gynecologie du Canada : JOGC · 2026Article
- Association Between Changes in Maternal Age Distribution and Hypertensive Disorders of Pregnancy in the United States, 2011-2021.Circulation. Population health and outcomes · 2026Article
- Adverse pregnancy outcomes as predictors of postpartum psychiatric illness: a retrospective cohort study.Archives of women's mental health · 2026Observational
- A model to predict red blood cell transfusion during/after cesarean delivery.Pregnancy (Hoboken, N.J.) · 2026Article
- Urban-rural disparities in the trends and causes of maternal deaths in Jinan, 1991-2025: a longitudinal trend analysis.Frontiers in public health · 2026Article
- Transportation Barriers to Prenatal Care Among Black/African Americans: A Scoping Review.Public health challenges · 2025Review
- How to set up a pregnancy heart team.International journal of cardiology. Congenital heart disease · 2025Article
- Simulation for Targeted Education, Process Improvement, and Systems Integration (STEPS): A Novel Approach to Health Care Quality Improvement Using In Situ Simulation.Joint Commission journal on quality and patient safety · 2025Article
- Lower Prepregnancy Cardiovascular Health is Associated With Hypertensive Disorders of Pregnancy: The CARDIA Study.Hypertension (Dallas, Tex. : 1979) · 2025Observational
- Prognostic significance of liver affliction in pregnancy related acute kidney injury in an Egyptian cohort.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Article
- Developing the Next Generation of Physician Changemakers: "You Have to Love the People, and Love the Process".Cureus · 2025Article
2 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
10 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Rigorous studies carried out by the National Center for Health Statistics show that previously reported increases in maternal mortality rates in the United States were an artifact of changes in surveillance. The pregnancy checkbox, introduced in the revised 2003 death certificate and implemented by the states in a staggered manner, resulted in increased identification of maternal deaths and in reported maternal mortality rates. This Commentary summarizes the findings of the National Center for Health Statistics reports, describes temporal trends and the current status of maternal mortality in the United States, and discusses future concerns. Although the National Center for Health Statistics studies, based on recoding of death certificate information (after excluding information from the pregnancy checkbox), showed that crude maternal mortality rates did not change significantly between 2002 and 2018, age-adjusted analyses show a temporal reduction in the maternal mortality rate (21% decline, 95% CI 13-28). Specific causes of maternal death, which were not affected by the pregnancy checkbox, such as preeclampsia, showed substantial temporal declines. However, large racial disparities continue to exist: Non-Hispanic Black women had a 2.5-fold higher maternal mortality rate compared with non-Hispanic White women in 2018. This overview of maternal mortality underscores the need for better surveillance and more accurate identification of maternal deaths, improved clinical care, and expanded public health initiatives to address social determinants of health. Challenges with ascertaining maternal deaths notwithstanding, several causes of maternal death (unaffected by surveillance artifacts) show significant temporal declines, even though there remains substantial scope for preventing avoidable maternal death and reducing disparities.
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