Rate of death in childbirth rising in U.S.

ATLANTA — U.S. women are dying from childbirth at the highest rate in decades, new government figures show.

But such deaths in Utah have remained at a steady, low number for at least 15 years.

Though the risk of death is very small, some experts believe increasing maternal obesity and a jump in Caesarean sections are partly to blame for the national trend. Some number crunchers note that a change in how such deaths are reported also may be a factor.

"Those of us who look at this a lot say it's probably a little bit of both," said Dr. Jeffrey King, an obstetrician who led a recent New York state review of maternal deaths.

The U.S. maternal mortality rate rose to 13 deaths per 100,000 live

births in 2004, according to statistics released this week by the National Center for Health Statistics.

The rate was 12 per 100,000 live births in 2003 — the first time the maternal death rate rose above 10 since 1977.

To be sure, death from childbirth remains fairly rare in the United States. The death of infants is much more common — the nation's infant mortality rate was 679 per 100,000 live births in 2004.

In Utah, the number of annual deaths due to complications from childbirth have remained fairly steady over the past 15 years. Five mothers died from childbirth in 2005, three in 2004, five in 2003 and two in 2002, according to the Utah Department of Health's Office of Vital Records

"I have heard they've gone up and C-section rates have gone up," Jeff Duncan, director of the Office of Vital Records, said of the national report.

"But in Utah, the numbers are so low that even if we had an increase — where we're dealing with only five a year and maybe if we had an increase of another five, it would look like a 100 percent increase — but given the fact that we have nearly 60,000 births a year, it's pretty negligible."

Duncan said he is unaware of any statistics comparing states to each other. But compared to the past, Utah's current mortality numbers for birthing mothers look very good.

"Maternal mortality was a huge problem up until the middle of the 20th century," Duncan said. "But modern technology and things like that have really brought it down."