The risk for maternal mortality has consistently been higher among black women than white women. The 1990 national health objective of reducing maternal mortality to no more than five deaths per 100,000 live births for any racial/ethnic group was nearly achieved for white women, for whom the maternal mortality ratio * was 5.7 in 1990; for black women, however, the ratio was 18.6. The year 2000 national health objectives include reducing the overall maternal mortality ratio to no more than 3.3 deaths per 100,000 live births and to no more than five for blacks. This report summarizes race-specific differences in maternal mortality among black and white women for 1990 and compares these with trends in mortality from 1940-1990.
Maternal mortality ratios were calculated at 10-year intervals from 1940 to 1990 using data contained on death certificates filed in state vital statistics offices and compiled by CDC in a national database. Maternal deaths were defined as those for which a maternal condition was designated as the underlying cause of death, as recorded on the death certificate by the attending physician, medical examiner, or coroner. This report compares maternal mortality only for black and white women because data for other racial/ethnic groups were not available for all years; data for Hispanic women are included in the totals for both blacks and whites.
In 1990, the overall maternal mortality ratio was 8.0 deaths per 100,000 live births, a 98% decline from 363.9 in 1940. From 1940 to 1990, race-specific ratios declined substantially, from 319.8 to 5.7 for white women and from 781.7 to 18.6 for black women. Although the percentage decline was similar for black women and white women (97.6% and 98.2%, respectively), the ratios for black women were consistently two to four times higher than those for white women.............
