Maternal Mortality Rates Double in Texas

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A new study, soon to be published in Obstetrics & Gynecology, has shown that the number of women in Texas dying from pregnancy complications have inexplicably doubled. The study’s authors don’t speculate as to what the causes for this startling trend are, but the trend seems isolated to the Lone Star State.

One trend noted by the study’s authors was the possible linkage toward the increase in maternal mortality rates and the Texas Legislature’s decrease in funding to family planning agencies in 2011. Vital statistics personnel in Texas and at the National Center for Health Statistics couldn’t determine that there was a correlation between the two incidences.

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Latinos make up the largest percentage of any race in the state of Texas. As of the 2010 census, Latinos made up over 35% of the state’s population and 32% of all Texans are of Mexican descent. This number accounts for 88% of all Latinos in the state. This population contributes to Texas having a younger population than the American average, because Hispanic births have outnumbered non-Hispanic white births since the early 1990s.

“There were some changes in the provision of women’s health services in Texas from 2011 to 2015, including the closing of several women’s health clinics,” the study said. “Still, in the absence of war, natural disaster, or severe economic upheaval, the doubling of a mortality rate within a 2-year period in a state with almost 400,000 annual births seems unlikely.”

In 2013, the state created a task force to study pregnancy-related deaths and on September 1, 2016 the group will submit a report on its findings and recommendations to the governor, lieutenant governor, speaker of the House of Representatives and appropriate committees.