Nearly half of maternal deaths in Pennsylvania occur more than 6 weeks after giving birth

For too many women, the journey to motherhood ends in death. Maternal mortality—the death of a woman during pregnancy or within 42 days of giving birth—is not a rare tragedy. Globally, the maternal mortality rate is unacceptably high—about 260,000 women died during and following pregnancy and childbirth in 2023. In the U.S., it is also an ongoing crisis.