DHSS Publishes Missouri’s Annual Maternal Mortality Report

DHSS recently published “A Multi-year Look at Maternal Mortality: 2018-2022 Annual Report” on behalf of the state’s Pregnancy-Associated Mortality Review Board, a multidisciplinary board of experts from across the state tasked with examining the causes and contributing factors associated with maternal mortality and ultimately forming recommendations that could prevent these deaths from occurring in the future.

An average of 70 Missouri women died while pregnant or within one year of pregnancy each year over five years (2018-2022), with the highest number recorded in 2020 (85 deaths). Mental health conditions, including substance use disorders, were the leading underlying cause of pregnancy-related deaths, followed by cardiovascular diseases. Other key findings include the following.

• The pregnancy-related mortality ratio was 32.3 deaths per 100,000 live births.  
• The pregnancy-related mortality ratio for Black women was 2.5 times the ratio of white women. This is a decline from the previous three reports.  
• All pregnancy-related deaths due to mental health conditions, including substance use disorder, were determined to be preventable. Eighty percent of all pregnancy-related deaths were determined to be preventable. 
• Women living in micropolitan counties had the highest ratio of pregnancy-related deaths (38.7 per 100,000 live births). 

MHA sponsors the Missouri Perinatal Quality Collaborative in association with DHSS. The MO PQC includes access to evidence-based initiatives, technical support, education, and resources to support the reduction of severe maternal and infant morbidity and mortality. Quality improvement collaboratives, which align with key MO PAMR findings and recommendations, are deployed for more complex topics and are designed to result in highly reliable processes and improved care outcomes.