Jose Cordero, head of the department of epidemiology and biostatistics in the College of Public Health, spoke with Atlanta News First about the dangers pregnant women in Georgia face.
“There’s not a simple answer why maternal mortality in Georgia is so high,” said Cordero.
Cordero says that maternal deaths during childbirth or within the first year are often due to things that could have been caught if there was proper care and follow-up. Maternal mortality is particularly high for women of color.
“One of the challenges with maternal mortality, the major component, is access to care,” said Cordero, “and so the question is, ‘What about access to care is impacting more African Americans than other groups?’”
The National Institute of Health lists Georgia as the state with the highest maternal mortality, with black women having a mortality rate of 66.6, three times higher than the national average.
