Suggested Meta Description: Maternal deaths in the U.S. have fallen from their 2021 peak, but too many are still preventable. Here is what better maternal care looks like, and how families can help raise the standard.
Few moments in a family’s life feel as hopeful as a pregnancy, which is why it is so hard to talk about the cases where care goes wrong. The numbers have improved. According to the CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics, 649 women died of maternal causes in the United States in 2024, a rate of 17.9 per 100,000 live births. That is about level with 2023 and far below the 2021 peak of 32.9. It is also still a number that represents hundreds of families, and the people who study these deaths say many did not have to happen.
What Raising the Bar Looks Like
CDC reports that more than 80% of pregnancy-related deaths are preventable, a figure drawn from state reviews of deaths that extend through the year after pregnancy. That finding reframes the question. The goal is no longer just to treat emergencies well. It is to catch problems early, respond fast, and make sure nothing falls through the cracks between the delivery room and the first months at home.
In practice, raising the bar means a handful of unglamorous things done consistently. Many hospitals now use standard protocols for emergencies such as severe bleeding and dangerously high blood pressure, so the response does not depend on who happens to be on shift. It means careful monitoring after delivery, when risks can still be high. And it means taking a patient’s description of her own symptoms seriously, the first time she raises it.
Those basics matter everywhere, and the gaps are not evenly shared. In 2023, the rate for Black women was 50.3 deaths per 100,000 live births, more than three times the rate for white women at 14.5, according to CDC data. Closing that gap is part of raising the bar for everyone.
When a Family Is Left With Questions
Most families will never need this part of the conversation. For the few who do, losing a mother leaves two kinds of grief: the loss itself, and not knowing whether it could have been prevented. Questions about what happened, who was involved, and what the records show can feel impossible to ask while a family is still in shock.
That is often the point where families turn to a maternal death lawyer, who can review what happened in the mother’s care, help obtain and make sense of the medical records, and explain how filing deadlines and legal options work in their state, so that grief is not made heavier by uncertainty about where to turn.
Time limits for legal claims differ from state to state, and some can be short. That is one reason families often seek independent advice early, even while they are still deciding what they want to do. It also helps to ask the hospital for copies of records, write down a timeline of events while memories are fresh, and think carefully before signing any document you do not fully understand.
What Expecting and New Parents Can Do Now
None of this puts the burden on patients. Good care is the system’s job. But a few habits give parents more footing, and they cost nothing:
- Learn the urgent warning signs. CDC’s Hear Her campaign lists symptoms during pregnancy and after birth that call for urgent care, including a severe headache that does not go away, changes in vision, trouble breathing, chest pain, heavy bleeding, and fever. If something feels wrong, call your provider or emergency services.
- Bring someone with you. A partner, relative, or friend can take notes, ask questions, and speak up when you are tired or overwhelmed.
- Write down your concerns before appointments. A short list keeps worries from slipping away in a rushed visit.
- Know the plan for emergencies. It is reasonable to ask how the hospital handles sudden heavy bleeding or very high blood pressure.
- Ask how care continues after you go home. Find out who to call with a concern, how your blood pressure will be checked, and when your first follow-up visit is scheduled.
- Keep the postpartum visits. The weeks after birth are not the finish line. Appointments in those weeks are a chance to catch problems that start after you leave the hospital.
- Say it again if you are not heard. Repeating a symptom, asking for it to be written in your chart, or requesting a second opinion are all reasonable.
How Partners and Families Help Raise the Bar
The same CDC campaign speaks to the people around a pregnant or postpartum woman, because family members are often the first to notice that something is off. A partner who goes to appointments, knows the warning signs, and is willing to say “this doesn’t seem right” can change the direction of a hospital stay.
Communities matter too. Postpartum support groups, community health workers, and flexible workplaces that let new parents attend their own medical visits all make it easier to get care in the weeks when it is most needed. Employers can help simply by treating prenatal and postpartum appointments as ordinary, protected time.
A Standard Worth Insisting On
Maternal healthcare has improved in recent years, and that progress is worth recognizing. It is also unfinished. Preventable deaths remain, the risks fall unevenly, and many of the fixes are basic: listening, monitoring, and acting quickly. Parents, partners, and clinicians all have a role in making those basics the standard everywhere, and not only in the hospitals that already do them well.