JEFFERSON CITY — An average of 70 Missouri women died while pregnant or within one year of pregnancy between 2018 and 2020, state health officials reported Thursday.
In officials found the top causes of pregnancy-related death over those three years were mental health, drug use, cardiovascular issues and homicide.
The survey, which is conducted by a specialized board, determined that the pregnancy-related mortality ratio was 32 deaths per 100,000 live births, which is up from 25.2 deaths in the 2017-19 time frame. Eighty-four percent of pregnancy-related deaths were determined to be preventable, which is nine percentage points higher than the previous multiyear report.
And the mortality rate for Black mothers continues to be higher across the state.
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“Black women living in Missouri are three times more likely to die within one year of pregnancy than white women,” the report noted.
The survey comes after Missouri’s Republican-led Legislature in May voted to extend Medicaid coverage for pregnant women and babies from 60 days to 12 months after a pregnancy.
The state budget also includes an additional $4 million for maternal mortality programs amid the increase outlined in the report.
In all, the move could affect an estimated 4,000 people who might otherwise go uninsured two months after a pregnancy.
Missouri ranked 12th in maternal mortality in the nation from 2018 to 2020.
The bipartisan support for extending coverage to a year was seen as a way to address a potential increase in births in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade last year.
But anti-abortion forces in the Missouri Capitol almost derailed the proposed extension by attempting to bar coverage for women if they receive an abortion. The language was eventually dropped, and the added benefits were signed into law by Gov. Mike Parson.
State Sen. Tracy McCreery, D-Olivette, who helped push the expansion across the finish line, called the new report “shocking.”
“The numbers are going in the wrong direction,” McCreery said.
“I think that the data that just was released is even more powerful than what we had when we expanded coverage in the spring,” McCreery said Thursday. “The numbers have only risen. I applaud my colleagues for taking action.”
According to the new report, all pregnancy-related deaths due to mental health conditions were determined to be preventable.
In addition, the report said deaths by suicide doubled from the previous three-year reporting period.
“This corresponded with an increase in the number of firearm deaths,” the report noted.
Women with a higher education level had a ratio of pregnancy-related death that was 3.3 times lower than those who had obtained a high school diploma.
And the death rate also was higher among women who were not married.
Along with the Medicaid extension and the added money, the report calls for increasing mental health coverage to assist women following a pregnancy.
