By the Numbers: Maternal Mortality in the U.S.

50,000

Number of women severely injured while giving birth each year

700

Number of women who die during childbirth or as a result of complications of pregnancy each year

50 

Percentage of those deaths that are considered preventable

1

Rank of the United States among the most dangerous places to have a child among developed countries

10.3

Number of maternal deaths per 100,000 births in the United States in 1991

26.4

Number of maternal deaths per 100,000 births in the United States in 2015. In Germany, France, Japan, England and Canada, the number is fewer than 10 deaths per 100,000 births.

13.7

Number of maternal deaths per 100,000 births in Wisconsin in 2015

4

Number of maternal deaths per 100,000 births in California in 2015, the lowest rate in the natio

Sources: Lancet Medical Journal; USA Today; Harvard Business Review