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Medi News |
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More Blacks Die During Childbirth African-American women are four times more likely to die as a result of childbirth than white women, according to a new report from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The overall rate of maternal deaths in the United States is 7.5 for every 100,000 births. But black women are more likely to die of any pregnancy-related causes -- including blood clots, high blood pressure and hemorrhage -- regardless of whether they have received prenatal care. "Although prenatal care reduces the risk for maternal mortality, health-care access and use do not explain fully the disproportionate risk for maternal death for black women," the CDC reports in the June 18 issue of Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. CDC researchers say it's unclear exactly why such a large gap exists between the number of black women who die during childbirth compared with the number of white women. In an analysis of 26 states, the CDC found the maternal mortality rate for white women was 2.7 in Massachusetts and 8.7 for black women. New York had one of the highest maternal death rates for black women at 28.7 per 100,000 births. |
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