The Virginia Maternal Mortality Review Team (MMRT) is proud to present the 2024 Annual Report of statistical data as mandated by Code of Virginia, § 32.1-283.8. This shall be made available to the Governor and the General Assembly by October 1, 2024. This report provides an overview of the patterns and trends in pregnancy-associated deaths in the state of Virginia in 2022. Pregnancy-associated death is defined as “the death of a woman while pregnant or within one year of pregnancy regardless of the outcome of the pregnancy or the cause of death." This report also presents the MMRT preliminary determinations of preventability, pregnancy-relatedness, and contributors to mortality for 2021 pregnancy-associated death cases. Additionally, draft recommendations from the MMRT for the prevention of future pregnancy-associated deaths are also included. The MMRT is dedicated to understanding the circumstances surrounding each of these deaths so that strategies can be developed to reduce maternal mortality across the Commonwealth. The MMRT is an ongoing collaborative effort led by the VDH’s Office of Family Health Services and Office of the Chief Medical Examiner. Data highlights are listed below.

2022 DATA HIGHLIGHTS

1. In the Commonwealth of Virginia, the number of pregnancy-associated deaths increased from 64 in 2021 to 67 in 2022.

2. The pregnancy-associated death rate increased from 66.9 per 100,000 live births in 2021 to 70.1 per 100,000 live births in 2022.

3. Approximately 33% of these deaths occurred between 43 and 365 days after the end of the pregnancy.

4. Over 35% of pregnancy-associated deaths involved women ages 35 and older.

a. Pregnancies in women over the age of 35 are considered high-risk and account for 22.9% of all live births in 2022.

5. Black women continue to experience higher rates of pregnancy-associated deaths when compared to their White counterparts (138.1 vs. 50.6, respectively).

6. Black women were more likely to die from cardiac related causes (26.6 vs. 5.8 per 100,000 live births, respectively) and COVID-19 (15.9 vs. 0.0 per 100,000 live births, respectively) than their White counterparts.

7. Statistically, Black women were significantly more likely to die by homicide than any other race (10.6 vs. 2.9 per 100,000 live births, p<.01).

8. Approximately 86% of pregnancy-associated accidental deaths were from accidental overdoses.

9. The pregnancy-associated death rate from accidental overdoses was higher among Black women when compared to White women (21.2 vs. 7.2, respectively).

10. The Central Health Services Area had the highest rate of pregnancy-associated deaths at 96.7 per 100,000 live births, followed by the Eastern (87.6 per 100,000 live births) and Southwestern (87.1 per 100,000 live births) Health Services Areas.

11. It is estimated that 53.3% of pregnancy-associated deaths in 2021 were pregnancy-related.