Harvard School of Public Health
  • Quicklinks
    • About the School
    • Academics
    • Admissions
    • Research
    • Faculty
    • Student Life
    • News
    • Alumni
    • Frontiers
    • Make A Gift
Menu
Search
Bridging science and policy decision-making.
The Forum at Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health
Skip to content
  • We launched a new webpage. Find out more.
  • Past events
  • About

Deaths From Pregnancy and Childbirth
Why Are More U.S. Mothers Dying and What Can Be Done?

Summary

THE DR. LAWRENCE H. AND ROBERTA COHN FORUMS

DEATHS FROM PREGNANCY AND CHILDBIRTH: Why Are More U.S. Mothers Dying and What Can Be Done?
Presented jointly with PRI’s The World & WGBH

Watch on YouTube

Brief Video Highlight

March 4, 2019

Maternal mortality dropped by almost half over the last 25 years around the world. However, in startling contrast, deaths related to pregnancy and childbirth doubled in the United States between 2000 and 2014, putting the nation second-to-last in maternal mortality among countries in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. Further, pernicious racial disparities mean that black women in the United States face a deeply distressing three- to four-times higher risk of pregnancy-related deaths. What factors are driving these increases and disparities? What changes will narrow the survival gap between white and black women? How can health care systems more effectively prevent complications and poor outcomes? And how can mothers themselves and their communities be agents for change for a more equitable and safe delivery of the next generation?

 

Part of: Policy Controversies, The Dr. Lawrence H. and Roberta Cohn Forums.

Presented jointly with PRI's The World & WGBH

Background Articles

  • Lost Mothers
    ProPublica and NPR
  • Women and Health Initiative
    Harvard Chan School
  • America Is Failing Its Black Mothers
    https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/magazine/magazine_article/america-is-failing-its-black-mothers/
  • The Global Health Education and Learning Incubator at Harvard University designs, curates, and tests novel resources for teaching and learning that illuminate the multidisciplinary global challenges of our age.
    https://gheli.harvard.edu/
  • GHELI Resource Pack: U.S. Maternal Mortality (landing page)
    http://repository.gheli.harvard.edu/repository/collection/resource-pack-us-maternal-mortality/
  • GHELI Resource Pack: U.S. Maternal Mortality (downloadable PDF)
    https://gheli-live-c08f218cfc6c4ccf84df8c9b3035-9503df6.aldryn-media.io/filer_public/4e/25/4e25f0d7-9337-4f09-8a39-81be73f2bec8/2019_gheli_matmort_rp.pdf

Image Credit: iStockphoto.com/wundervisuals. Stock photo. Posed by model.

Share this:FacebookTwitterLinkedInReddit

Post navigation

← The Spread of Hate and Racism Feeding 10 Billion By 2050 →

Moderator

Tina Martin
Anchor, Host and Reporter, WGBH

Expert Participants

Wanda Barfield
Rear Admiral, U.S. Public Health Service, and Director of the Division of Reproductive Health for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Haywood Brown
Immediate Past President, American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists

Ana Langer
Professor of the Practice of Public Health and Director of the Women and Health Initiative, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health

Susan Mann
MD, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center

Karen Scott
Project Director, California Birth Equity Collaborative, California Maternal Quality Care Collaborative

Event Resources

  • Download the MP3 Audio
Harvard School of Public Health
677 Huntington Avenue
Boston, MA 02115
+1 (617) 495-1000
  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • YouTube
  • LinkedIn
  • Instagram
  • iTunes
  • Harvard Chan Home
  • Contact Us
  • Harvard University Home
  • Make a Gift
  • Privacy Policy
  • Report Copyright Violation
  • Accessibility
Copyright © 2023 The President and Fellows of Harvard College