The United States holds at present an unenviable position with regard to its maternal mortality rate. According to the latest available statistics, this country ranks nineteenth among the twenty nations of the world which can offer data on this subject. The only civilized country that shows a higher death rate among women from accidents and diseases incident to childbirth is Chile. Moreover, the maternal mortality rate in the United States is one-third higher than that of England and Wales and more than twice as high as that of Denmark, Italy, Japan, Netherlands, New Zealand and Sweden. Even allowing for possible doubt as to the entire accuracy of the statistics from the countries studied, and taking into consideration the varying methods used in computing these rates, it is evident that the present obstetric practice does not assure to the women of this country the safety which they have the right to
BAKER SJ. MATERNAL MORTALITY IN THE UNITED STATES. JAMA. 1927;89(24):2016–2017. doi:10.1001/jama.1927.02690240008003
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