Maternal mortality rate in the US declines to its lowest since 2018: CDC
LWA/Dann Tardif/Getty Images
(NEW YORK) — Maternal mortality rates in the United States have dropped to their lowest levels in recent years, according to new data published on Thursday.
The report, from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Center for Health Statistics, compared maternal deaths in 2023 and 2024, with maternal deaths defined as the death of a woman during pregnancy or within 42 days of pregnancy termination.
In 2024, 649 women died of maternal causes in the U.S., with a rate of 17.9 deaths per 100,000 births, according to the report.
By comparison, 669 women died in 2023 with a rate of 18.6 deaths per 100,000 births, the report found.
This is also the lowest rate seen since 2018, which had a maternal mortality rate of 17.4 deaths per 100,000 live births.
Data showed significant racial/ethnic disparities. Black women had the highest mortality rate at 44.8 deaths per 100,000 live births.
This was three times higher than the mortality rate for white women of 14.2 deaths per 100,000 live births. Hispanic and Asian women also had lower rates of 12.1 deaths per 100,000 and 18.1 deaths per 100,000, respectively.
Research has shown that Black women are more likely to have pre-existing cardiovascular disease and are more likely to experience adverse pregnancy outcomes, both of which increase the risk of maternal mortality.
Between 2023 and 2024, rates for Black, white and Hispanic women declined while the rate for Asian women rose, but neither the decreases nor the increase was “significant,” according to the report.
There were also disparities by age. Women aged 40 and older had the highest maternal mortality rate of 62.3 deaths per 100,000 live births in 2024.
This was 4.5 times higher than the mortality rate for women younger than age 25, which sat at 13.7 per 100,000 and 3.7 times higher than the rate for women between ages 25 and 39, sitting at 16.5 per 100,000. The report describes the differences in the women aged 40 and older group with the younger groups as “significant.”
More than 80% of pregnancy-related deaths are preventable, according to the CDC. The report did not examine why the maternal mortality rate declined, but the CDC has taken steps to support efforts to prevent pregnancy-related deaths.
Among these are Hear Her, which is a national campaign that shares messages about signs and symptoms during and after pregnancy that warrant seeking urgent medical care.
Additionally, the CDC conducts national surveillance through the Pregnancy Mortality Surveillance System, which is used to better understand the risk factors for and causes of pregnancy-related deaths in the U.S.
Robert Kennedy Jr. appears before the Senate Finance Committee at the Dirksen Senate Office Building on September 04, 2025 in Washington, DC. (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)
(WASHINGTON) — Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. heads to Capitol Hill Thursday after restoring staffing at the World Trade Center Health Program, a move that could ease one of the most persistent points of bipartisan criticism he has faced for months.
Program advocates and lawmakers said they received an email from the secretary on Wednesday approving hiring for 37 long-vacant positions. This will raise staffing from its current 83 employees to the federally authorized level of 120.
The move comes after nearly a year of bipartisan criticism that staffing shortages were slowing care for the 140,000 responders and survivors the program serves, many of whom have been diagnosed with cancer, respiratory disease and other conditions tied to exposure to toxins after the 9/11 terror attacks in New York, Shanksville, Penn., and Washington, D.C.
The World Trade Center Health Program was created as part of the James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act to provide long-term medical monitoring and treatment to those affected by the attacks. For more than a year, the program has operated far below capacity with about 83 staff members, following a period of upheaval that included firings, rehires and shifting leadership, even as the participant population grew by nearly 30,000 new enrollees.
Advocates say the reduced staffing has had real consequences, including slower approval of survivors into the program, delays in managing contractors, and longer wait times for care.
“This is progress,” Benjamin Chevat, executive director of Citizens for the Extension of the James Zadroga Act, told ABC News. He credited the progress to sustained pressure from lawmakers in both parties and their consistent support of the program.
Lawmakers also have welcomed the end of the hiring freeze.
Rep. Andrew Garbarino, R-N.Y., told ABC News that the approval for the additional staff would “directly support the responders and survivors who rely on this care every day,” and that “more staff means better access to care, shorter wait times, and stronger support for those still living with the health impacts” of the attacks.
He called the move “real progress for the 9/11 community” and said it is “about making sure those who answered the call on September 11th get the care they have earned.”
Rep. Dan Goldman, D-N.Y., also welcomed the news but criticized the delays. “I am encouraged that, after repeated demands from me and from other members of Congress, Secretary Kennedy is finally increasing staffing at the World Trade Center Health Program so that our brave survivors and first responders can receive the quality health care they deserve,” Goldman told ABC News.
“The ongoing staffing shortages under this administration are unacceptable and have been undermining the program’s ability to provide timely and quality care to the enrollees,” Goldman added. “I will be watching closely to ensure that new staffers are hired as quickly as possible and that our heroes receive the quality healthcare they were promised and deserve.”
At a senate hearing last May, Kennedy acknowledged that “we made a couple of mistakes” in firing program staff and promised to address them.
“Under Secretary Kennedy’s leadership, the World Trade Center Health Program continues to move forward and deliver for responders and survivors,” a spokesperson for the Department of Health and Human Services told ABC News in response to a request for comment. “The approval of these positions reflects HHS’ commitment to strengthening the program. The petition reviews are proceeding through established processes, and work is actively underway to advance pending petitions. Protecting the health and well-being of those affected by 9/11 remains a top priority.”
Chevat pointed out the timing of the decision, which comes as Kennedy prepared to face lawmakers at Thursday’s public hearing: “Now a year later he is finally letting the program fill the staff vacancies that the program was blocked from filling.”
In a previous statement to ABC News, HHS spokesperson Andrew Nixon said decisions about the program, including staffing and whether to add new health conditions to be covered under the program, rest with the World Trade Center Health Program administrator, not Secretary Kennedy.
Even with the staffing issue moving toward resolution, significant concerns for the program remain, Chevat said. They include key decisions about expanding coverage for additional conditions including autoimmune, cardiac, and cognitive disorders are still pending – for years, in some cases.
Those decisions ultimately require sign-off within HHS, under Kennedy’s direction, according to Chevat. Until that happens, patients with those conditions don’t qualify for full coverage through the program.
Research funding for the program also remains stalled, according to Chevat. Its annual grant cycle, which typically distributes about $20 million for studies on 9/11-related illnesses, is still waiting for approval, despite the understanding that it would begin this past February, he said.
Additionally, communication between the program and the 9/11 community has been sparse under HHS oversight, with fewer updates and less clarity about decision-making, according to Chevat and other 9/11 survivor advocates.
Lawmakers are still likely to ask Kennedy questions about the World Trade Center Health Program during today’s hearings, Chevat said. The research funding budget is also expected to come up during a Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee hearing next week.
For now, however, the decision to restore program staffing removes one of the most visible and widely criticized problems, Chevat said.
Signs point the way to measles testing in the parking lot of the Seminole Hospital District across from Wigwam Stadium on February 27, 2025 in Seminole, Texas. Jan Sonnenmair/Getty Images
(NEW YORK) — At least 588 measles cases have been confirmed so far this year across the U.S., according to updated data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
This means the U.S. has seen more cases in about one month than is typically recorded in an entire year.
Only nine other years, including last year, have had higher case counts since measles was declared eliminated in 2000.
The high case counts in 2026 are largely being driven by a measles outbreak in South Carolina.
At least 17 states have also reported measles cases this year including Arizona, California, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Kentucky, Minnesota, Nebraska, North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon, South Carolina, South Dakota, Utah, Virginia, Washington and Wisconsin.
Almost all cases are tied to ongoing outbreaks in pockets of undervaccinated or unvaccinated communities. Just three measles cases were reported among international travelers so far this year, according to CDC data.
Last year, the U.S. saw a record-breaking number of measles cases reported with 2,257 infections, the highest figure recorded since 1992. The U.S. could be on pace to surpass that record if cases continue to mount at this rate.
The CDC currently recommends that people receive two doses of the measles, mumps, rubella (MMR) vaccine, the first at ages 12 to 15 months and the second between 4 and 6 years old. One dose is 93% effective, and two doses are 97% effective against measles, the CDC says.
However, federal data shows vaccination rates have been lagging in recent years. During the 2024-2025 school year, 92.5% of kindergartners received the MMR vaccine, according to data. This is lower than the 92.7% seen in the previous school year and the 95.2% seen in the 2019-2020 school year, before the COVID-19 pandemic.
The national trends mirror those see in counties across the U.S. A recent map from ABC News — a collaboration with researchers from Boston Children’s Hospital, Harvard School of Medicine and Icahn School of Medicine at Mt. Sinai that allows people to type in their ZIP code and see the measles risk in their area — found a wide range of risks in areas across the U.S.
Some counties and ZIP codes fell into the “lowest risk,” with 85% or more of children under 5 years old receiving one or more measles vaccine dose to “very high risk” with fewer than 60% of children under age 5 receiving one or more measles vaccine dose.
Striking Kaiser Permanente workers hold signs as they march in front of the Kaiser Permanente Oakland Medical Center on October 14, 2025 in Oakland, California. Justin Sullivan/Getty Images
(NEW YORK) — Tens of thousands of nurses and health care workers at Kaiser Permanente facilities across California and Hawaii went on strike on Monday morning.
More than 31,000 workers across at least two dozen hospitals and hundreds of clinics run by the non-profit health care system walked off the job at 7 a.m. PT, marking the largest strike of health care professionals so far this year.
The striking workers, who are members of the United Nurses Associations of California/Union of Health Care Professionals (UNAC/UHCP), said they are fighting for safe staffing levels and fair wages and compensation.
UNAC/UHCP said many Kaiser facilities are currently experiencing staffing shortages, which is leading to delays in care and a risk of errors, as well as burnout and turnover.
The union also states that Kaiser is seeking wage cuts and a reduction in benefits and retirement, including active medical coverage and pension benefits.
“Kaiser’s own communications to employees reveal exactly why we are striking,” Charmaine Morales, president of UNAC/UHCP, said in a statement. “Instead of addressing unsafe staffing and patient care concerns, Kaiser is issuing messages that pressure workers not to strike, exaggerate the risks of participation, and encourage employees to report one another. That is intimidation.”
The union argues that Kaiser is engaging in unfair labor practices by stalling negotiations and attempting to bypass “the established national bargaining process.”
Both sides have been negotiation since May but are currently in a stalemate. The union filed an unfair labor practice charge with the National Labor Relations Board, accusing Kaiser of walking away from the bargaining table in December.
Additionally, UNAC/UHCP released a report earlier this month, accusing Kaiser of earning a net income and surplus above what is traditional for a non-profit health care system.
The report also criticized Kaiser for allegedly investing in private prisons and ICE detention centers, which the union claims raises “urgent ethical questions.”
“Kaiser isn’t strapped for resources. It’s making choices — and those choices are hurting people. It’s time for accountability,” Morales said in a statement at the time.
In a statement, Kaiser referred to the strike as “unnecessary when such a generous offer is on the table” and said the strike has occurred despite a recent agreement to return to local bargaining.
Kaiser said that as health care costs rise, and many Americans risk losing access to health insurance, it is committed to delivering fair and competitive pay for its staff while protecting affordability for patients.
“Despite the union’s claims, this strike is about wages,” the statement read, in part. “The strike is designed to disrupt the lives of our patients — the very people we areall here to serve.”
The health care system said that all of its hospitals and nearly all of its medical offices will remain open during the strike and that contingency plans have been put in place to ease disruptions.
Kaiser said that some in-person appointments may need to be virtual instead and some appointments, elective surgeries and procedures may need to be rescheduled.
This is not the first time Kaiser workers have gone on strike. In October, thousands of workers participated in a five-day strike across California and Hawaii to demand safer staffing and fair compensation.
Kaiser’s strike comes amid the largest nursing strike in New York City history with nearly 15,000 nurses walking off the job at five hospitals across the city.
The strike, which began two weeks ago, has shown some signs of progress with the New York State Nurses Association — the union representing the workers — saying at least two hospitals have agreed on maintaining health benefits for nurses.
However, nurses have indicated that the strike will continue until at least tentative contract agreements are reached.
