Pregnancy health statistics show substantial progress alongside persistent disparities. Worldwide, about 260,000 women died during and following pregnancy and childbirth in 2023. In the United States, 649 maternal deaths were recorded in 2024, while 75.5% of births began with prenatal care in the first trimester. These measures describe different parts of pregnancy health, and their years, definitions, and populations should be kept distinct.
Contents
- Global pregnancy and maternal health burden
- Maternal mortality in the United States
- Prenatal care access and timing
- Pregnancy complications and risk factors
- Labor, delivery, and care financing
- Gestational age, prematurity, and birthweight
Global pregnancy and maternal health burden
The World Health Organization estimated that approximately 260,000 women died during and following pregnancy and childbirth worldwide in 2023. About 92% of these maternal deaths occurred in low- and lower-middle-income countries. Sub-Saharan Africa and southern Asia together accounted for about 225,000 deaths, roughly 87% of the global total.
Sub-Saharan Africa alone accounted for about 182,000 maternal deaths, around 70% of the worldwide total. Southern Asia accounted for approximately 43,000, or around 17%. These regional figures are part of the WHO’s 2023 estimates and should not be interpreted as a current-year count outside that measurement period. WHO, “Maternal mortality”
The longer-term trend is more favorable: the global maternal mortality ratio fell by about 40% between 2000 and 2023. Central and southern Asia reduced lifetime maternal-death risk by 83%, from 1 in 71 women in 2000 to 1 in 410 in 2023. The two measures are related but not interchangeable: the first describes a change in a mortality ratio, while the second describes lifetime risk. WHO, “Maternal mortality”
Preterm birth is another major global pregnancy-health measure. An estimated 13.4 million babies were born preterm worldwide in 2020, before 37 completed weeks of gestation. Country-specific preterm-birth rates ranged from 4% to 16% of live births that year. Complications of preterm birth caused approximately 900,000 deaths among children younger than 5 years in 2019. Those figures refer to different years and should be read as estimates for their stated periods. WHO, “Preterm birth”
Maternal mortality in the United States
The United States recorded 649 maternal deaths in 2024. The U.S. maternal mortality rate was 17.9 deaths per 100,000 live births in 2024, compared with 18.6 per 100,000 in 2023. The count and rate answer different questions: the count is the number of deaths, while the rate accounts for the number of live births used as the denominator. CDC, “Maternal Mortality Rates in the United States, 2024”
Rates varied substantially by race and Hispanic origin in 2024. Black non-Hispanic women had a rate of 44.8 deaths per 100,000 live births. The rate was 14.2 for White non-Hispanic women, 12.1 for Hispanic women, and 18.1 for Asian non-Hispanic women. These are reported population-specific rates for 2024, not a measure of an individual person’s risk. CDC, “Maternal Mortality Rates in the United States, 2024”
Age differences were also pronounced. U.S. women younger than 25 had a maternal mortality rate of 13.7 deaths per 100,000 live births in 2024. The rate for women ages 25–39 was 16.5, while women ages 40 and older had a rate of 62.3. The age categories are not interchangeable with the racial and Hispanic-origin categories above; each describes a separate comparison. CDC, “Maternal Mortality Rates in the United States, 2024”
Prenatal care access and timing
Prenatal-care timing provides a view of access during the pregnancy, but it does not by itself measure the quality or number of visits. In the United States, prenatal care began in the first trimester for 75.5% of births in 2024. In 2023, the corresponding share was 76.1%. The two percentages come from different reporting years. CDC, “Births in the United States, 2024” CDC, “Births: Final Data for 2023”
In 2023, late prenatal care beginning in the third trimester or no prenatal care occurred for 7.0% of U.S. births. First-trimester care varied across reported maternal groups: 82.4% of births to White mothers, 68.9% to Hispanic mothers, 66.3% to Black mothers, and 48.6% to Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander mothers began care in the first trimester.
The same 2023 report found that late or no prenatal care affected 22.4% of births to Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander mothers. Among mothers younger than 20, first-trimester prenatal care covered 57.6% of births. These statistics identify differences in when care began; they do not establish why the differences occurred or imply that timing alone caused a later outcome. CDC, “Births: Final Data for 2023”
Pregnancy complications and risk factors
Gestational hypertension was reported for 377,267 U.S. births in 2024, equal to 10.4 per 100 births. The rate increased from 6.0 per 100 births in 2016 to 10.4 per 100 in 2024. This is a trend in reported birth data and does not, by itself, identify the causes of the increase. CDC, “Trends and Characteristics in Gestational Hypertension: United States, 2016–2024”
The 2024 rate differed by selected birth characteristics. Gestational hypertension affected 15.4 per 100 U.S. births to mothers with obesity and 17.0 per 100 twin or higher-order multiple births. These figures are subgroup rates, not percentages that can be applied to every pregnancy.
For 2021, reported rates per 1,000 U.S. live births included 83.0 for gestational diabetes, 10.9 for prepregnancy diabetes, and 27.2 for chronic prepregnancy hypertension. Gestational hypertension or preeclampsia was reported for 91.2 per 1,000 live births, while eclampsia was reported for 2.8 per 1,000.
Other 2021 measures included 38.0 per 1,000 live births with a previous preterm birth, 22.0 per 1,000 involving a pregnancy resulting from infertility treatment, and 223.4 per 1,000 eligible live births with a previous cesarean delivery. Because these measures use different denominators and describe different histories or conditions, they should not be added together. CDC, “Births: Final Data for 2023”
Labor, delivery, and care financing
There were 3,628,934 registered births in the United States in 2024. The general fertility rate was 53.8 births per 1,000 females ages 15–44. These are population-level measures of births and fertility, not measures of pregnancy health for an individual. CDC, “Births in the United States, 2024”
| U.S. delivery measure | Reported figure | Period |
|---|---|---|
| Primary cesarean-delivery rate | 22.9% | 2024 |
| Overall cesarean-delivery rate | 32.3% | 2023 |
| Low-risk cesarean-delivery rate | 26.6% | 2023 |
| Vaginal delivery after previous cesarean | 15.1% | 2023 |
The primary cesarean rate counts first cesarean deliveries, while the overall rate includes cesarean deliveries more broadly; they are not duplicate measures. The low-risk rate is a separate quality measure. Among U.S. women with a previous cesarean delivery, 15.1% delivered vaginally in 2023. CDC, “Births in the United States, 2024” CDC, “Births: Final Data for 2023”
Payment-source statistics show how delivery care was financed in 2023. Medicaid was the principal source of payment for 41.5% of U.S. births. Self-pay, generally indicating an uninsured delivery, covered 4.4% of births. These figures describe the principal payment source recorded for the birth, not the total cost of pregnancy or postpartum care. CDC, “Births: Final Data for 2023”
Gestational age, prematurity, and birthweight
The U.S. preterm-birth rate was 10.41% in 2024, representing 377,204 preterm births. Preterm birth means birth before 37 completed weeks of gestation. Low birthweight occurred in 8.52% of U.S. births in 2024, or 308,966 babies weighing less than 2,500 grams. Very low birthweight occurred in 1.33% of births and was defined as less than 1,500 grams. CDC, “Births in the United States, 2024”
The 2023 distribution by gestational age separates several clinically different groups. Early preterm births before 34 completed weeks accounted for 2.76% of U.S. births, and late preterm births at 34–36 completed weeks accounted for 7.64%. Early-term births at 37–38 completed weeks accounted for 29.84%, while full-term births at 39–40 completed weeks accounted for 54.94%.
Singleton and twin births showed a large difference in the 2023 preterm-birth measure. Among U.S. singleton births, 8.71% were preterm; among twin births, 61.88% were preterm. These percentages compare two birth groups and should not be used to estimate the outcome of a particular pregnancy. CDC, “Births: Final Data for 2023”
Together, the gestational-age and birthweight figures show why “preterm,” “early term,” “low birthweight,” and “very low birthweight” should be treated as distinct statistical categories. A percentage tied to one definition or measurement year cannot be substituted for another without changing what the statistic means.