Pregnancy and Childbirth

Goal: Prevent pregnancy complications and maternal deaths and improve women’s health before, during, and after pregnancy.

Women in the United States are more likely to die from childbirth than women living in other developed countries.1 Healthy People 2030 focuses on preventing pregnancy complications and maternal deaths and helping women stay healthy before, during, and after pregnancy.

Some women have health problems that start during pregnancy, and others have health problems before they get pregnant that could lead to complications during pregnancy. Strategies to help women adopt healthy habits and get health care before and during pregnancy can help prevent pregnancy complications. In addition, interventions to prevent unintended pregnancies can help reduce negative outcomes for women and infants.

Women’s health before, during, and after pregnancy can have a major impact on infants’ health and well-being. Women who get recommended health care services before they get pregnant are more likely to be healthy during pregnancy and to have healthy babies. Strategies to help pregnant women get medical care and avoid risky behaviors — like smoking or drinking alcohol — can also improve health outcomes for infants.

Objective Status

  • 3 Target met or exceeded
  • 2 Improving
  • 4 Little or no detectable change
  • 8 Getting worse
  • 2 Baseline only
  • 3 Developmental
  • 0 Research

Learn more about objective types

References

1.

GBD 2015 Maternal Mortality Collaborators (2016). Global, Regional, and National Levels of Maternal Mortality, 1990–2015: A Systematic Analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2015. The Lancet, 388, 1775–1812.