Black women die more from childbirth

ATLANTA, Dec. 29 (UPI) -- Black women are much more likely to die from certain pregnancy-related complications than white women, according to a U.S. study.

Researchers calculated prevalence and case-related fatality rates for five pregnancy-related conditions: pre-eclampsia, eclampsia, abruptio placentae, placenta previa and postpartum hemorrhage.

Those five conditions account for 26 percent of all pregnancy-related deaths. The study was based on data from the National Hospital Discharge Survey and from the Pregnancy Mortality Surveillance System collected from 1988 to 1999. While the prevalence of complications was not significantly different between African-American and white mothers, case-fatality rates among black women were two to three times higher than for white women.

"To understand why black women have higher case-fatality rates for the conditions examined in this study, a complex interaction of biological and health services factors must be untangled," the study's authors wrote. "We hope that research will advance beyond the descriptive epidemiology of racial disparities in pregnancy-related mortality to studies that will help elucidate the causes of disparity."

The findings are published in the American Journal of Public Health under "First Look."