CDC Overestimating Maternal Death Rates in America, Study Finds

The official data points to a more than two-fold jump in maternal mortality rates between 1999 and 2021, while the study shows that rates have remained stable.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) headquarters in Atlanta, Ga., on Aug. 25, 2023. Madalina Vasiliu/The Epoch Times

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) overestimates the number of maternal deaths in the United States due to adding numbers not related to pregnancy into the data, according to a recent study.

The study, published in the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology on March 12, aimed to assess the causes behind the elevated maternal mortality rates in the United States. When women die during pregnancy, childbirth, or shortly after delivery from conditions directly related to pregnancy, they are classified as maternal deaths.