The US maternal death rate rose sharply in 2021 according to new CDC data, alarming medical experts. Gloria Pazmino reports. As women continue to die due to pregnancy or childbirth each year in the United States, new federal data shows that the nation's maternal death rate rose significantly yet again in 2021, with the rates among Black women more than twice as high as those of White women. Many lives were also lost to the Covid-19 pandemic in 2021, and although Covid-19 data was not a part of the new report, some physicians wonder about the effects the disease may have had on women surviving pregnancy and childbirth in the United States. The number of women who died of maternal causes in the United States rose to 1,205 in 2021, according to a report from the National Center for Health Statistics, released Wednesday by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. That's a sharp increase from years earlier: 658 in 2018, 754 in 2019 and 861 in 2020. That means the US maternal death rate for 2021 -- the year for which the most recent data is available -- was 32.9 deaths per 100,000 live births, compared with rates of 20.1 in 2019 and 23.8 in 2020. The new report also notes significant racial disparities in the nation's maternal death rate. In 2021, the rate for Black women was 69.9 deaths per 100,000 live births, which is 2.6 times the rate for White women, at 26.6 per 100,000. The data showed that rates increased with the mother's age. In 2021, the maternal death rate was 20.4 deaths per 100,000 live births for women under 25 and 31.3 for those 25 to 39, but it was 138.5 for those 40 and older. That means the rate for women 40 and older was 6.8 times higher than the rate for women under age 25, according to the report. The maternal death rate in the United States has been steadily climbing over the past three decades, and these increases continued through the Covid-19 pandemic. Questions remain about how the pandemic may have affected maternal mortality in the United States, according to Dr. Elizabeth Cherot, chief medical and health officer for the infant and maternal health nonprofit March of Dimes, who was not involved in the new report. Health officials stress that people who are pregnant should get vaccinated against Covid-19 and that doing so offers protection for both the mother and the baby. During the early days of the pandemic, in 2020, there was limited information about the vaccine's risks and benefits during pregnancy, prompting some women to hold off on getting vaccinated. But now, there is mounting evidence of the importance of getting vaccinated for protection against serious illness and the risks of Covid-19 during pregnancy. The Covid-19 pandemic also may have exacerbated existing racial disparities in the maternal death rate among Black women compared with White women, said Dr. Chasity Jennings-Nuñez, a California-based site director with Ob Hospitalist Group and chair of the perinatal/gynecology department at Adventist Health-Glendale, who was not involved in the new report. "In terms of maternal mortality, it continues to highlight those structural and systemic problems that we saw so clearly during the Covid-19 pandemic," Jennings-Nuñez said. "So in terms of issues of racial health inequities, of structural racism and bias, of access to health care, all of those factors that we know have played a role in terms of maternal mortality in the past continue to play a role in maternal mortality," she said. "Until we begin to address those issues, even without a pandemic, we're going to continue to see numbers go in the wrong direction." 'This is a problem in our country' Some policies have been introduced to tackle the United States' maternal health crisis, including the Black Maternal "Momnibus" Act of 2021, a sweeping bipartisan package of bills that aim to provide pre- and post-natal support for Black mothers, including extending eligibility for certain benefits postpartum. As part of the Momnibus, President Biden signed the bipartisan Protecting Moms Who Served Act in 2021, and other provisions have passed in the House. Full story: https://www.wral.com/us-maternal-death-rate-rose-sharply-in-2021-cdc-data-shows-and-experts-worry-the-problem-is-getting-worse/20766340/ Subscribe to WRAL: / wral5 Follow WRAL: Facebook: https://facebook.com/WRALTV Twitter: https://twitter.com/WRAL IG: https://instagram.com/wral About WRAL-TV: WRAL is your Raleigh, North Carolina news source. Check out our videos for the latest news in Raleigh, local sports, Raleigh weather, and more at https://WRAL.com #localnews #northcarolina