Maternal Mortality, Race and Income

EconoFact Chats

The maternal mortality rate in the U.S. is three to four times that of comparably wealthy countries. Furthermore, it is much higher for Black women than White women, and for poor women than for rich women. Strikingly, high income Black mothers have the same risk of dying in the first year following childbirth as the poorest white mothers. What accounts for high maternal mortality in the United States as compared to other rich countries, and for the racial and income differences within this country. What can policy do to ensure better outcomes? Petra Persson and Maya Rossin-Slater join EconoFact Chats to discuss these important questions. Maya is a Professor in the Department of Health Policy at Stanford University. Petra is a Professor at Stanford's Department of Economics.