Georgia reviews every pregnancy-related death in the state through its Maternal Mortality Review Committee, and the findings have been consistent for years: a majority of those deaths are preventable, and Black women are affected far more often than white women, even when income and education are accounted for.

What the reviews find

The leading causes include hemorrhage, cardiovascular conditions and mental health conditions — many of which are detectable and treatable during and after pregnancy. The reviews repeatedly point to missed warning signs, delayed care and a lack of postpartum follow-up rather than to rare complications. Nationally, the CDC has documented that Black women are several times more likely to die from pregnancy-related causes than white women.

What has changed

Georgia extended postpartum Medicaid coverage well past the traditional two-month cutoff, and a growing number of programs now fund doulas, community health workers and midwifery care in Black neighborhoods. Hospital closures in rural parts of the state continue to reduce where women can deliver at all.