Question

Maternal mortality has ______ since 1980, but is highest for _______. been rising steadily; latinos dropped steeply; african americans remained the same; whites been rising steadily; african americans

Answer 1

Maternal mortality has dropped steeply since 1980, but is highest for African Americans. In the early part of the 20th century, maternal mortality in The United States was approximately 1000 deaths per 100,000 live births or about 1%. That rate has dropped progressively over the past century, reaching a bottom in the early 1980s of about 8 per 100,000 live births. This dramatic drop represented a 99% reduction in maternal deaths. When analyzed by race, there was a tremendous increase in the risk of maternal mortality among African American women. This resulted in a persisting ratio of 3-4 maternal deaths for African American women compared with Caucasian women. The ratio of African American to Caucasian deaths has been studied over the past 50-60 years, and the ratio has remained in the range of 3.5-4 deaths for African American women compared with Caucasians. These deaths occur irrespective of the woman’s education or income level.

Answer 2

Maternal mortality has (dropped steeply) since 1980, but is highest for (African Americans). Almost all maternal deaths occur in developing countries (99%), mostly in Africa and South Asia, and more than half of the deaths occur in fragile and humanitarian settings.