Late pregnancy loss is more common in the South, a new report finds
Late pregnancy loss is more common in the South than in other regions of the United States, according to a new report given exclusively to NBC News.
Losing a baby late in pregnancy is more common in the South than in other regions of the United States, according to a new report given exclusively to NBC News.
The difference is dramatic: Compared with other parts of the country, the odds of having a high rate of late-stage pregnancy loss are nearly three times greater in Southern states.
The lack of Medicaid expansion in the South, along with the region’s large rural population and relatively low levels of adequate prenatal care, contributes to the high rates of fetal loss in the second half of pregnancy, according to the report by United States of Care, a nonpartisan health care advocacy organization.
“We are losing lives,” said Venice Haynes, lead author of the report. “At what point are we going to stand up and say enough is enough?”
The new analysis found that the mean fetal mortality rate for 16 Southern states in 2023 was 6.05 fetal deaths at 20 weeks’ gestation or more per 1,000 live births and fetal deaths, compared with a mean fetal mortality rate of 5.25 for all other states. The analysis is based on provisional data from the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention.
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