Maternal Health Statistics: 2026 Data Brief

Data reviewed 2026-07-14. The latest final national maternal mortality report available at review time covers 2024 deaths and was released by CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics in March 2026.

What the national data show

• 649 maternal deaths were recorded in the United States in 2024.
• The 2024 maternal mortality rate was 17.9 deaths per 100,000 live births. The decrease from 18.6 in 2023 was not statistically significant.
• The rate for non-Hispanic Black women was 44.8 per 100,000, significantly higher than the rates for non-Hispanic White women (14.2), Hispanic women (12.1), and non-Hispanic Asian women (18.1).
• For women age 40 and older, the rate was 62.3 per 100,000, about five times the rate for women younger than 25 (13.7).

What “maternal mortality” means here

The NCHS measure counts deaths during pregnancy or within 42 days after pregnancy from causes related to or aggravated by pregnancy or its management, excluding accidental or incidental causes. Other systems examine longer time windows, so figures using different definitions should not be treated as interchangeable.

How to interpret the numbers

Maternal deaths are comparatively rare statistical events, so annual rates can fluctuate. CDC also notes continuing data-quality considerations involving pregnancy information on death certificates. A one-year change is not automatically meaningful.

Why review systems matter

Maternal mortality review committees examine deaths during pregnancy and within one year afterward to identify contributing factors, disparities, and prevention opportunities. CDC’s ERASE MM program supports review work in 46 states and six U.S. territories and freely associated states.

Sources

• CDC/NCHS: Maternal Mortality Rates in the United States, 2024
• CDC provisional maternal death rates
• CDC ERASE MM

This page is a dated snapshot. Follow the primary sources for later releases and revisions.