The three chairmen of the United States Conference of Catholics Bishops recently wrote to Congress to urge lawmakers to address the nation’s serious maternal health problems, with the bishops citing the country’s high maternal mortality rate.

The American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology published research in March that found that maternal death rates in the United States increased by 144 per cent from 9.65 per 100,000 live births in 1999-2002 to 23.6 per 100,000 live births in 2018-2021. The research also found that direct obstetric deaths increased from 8.41 per 100,000 live births in 1999-2002 to 14.1 per 100,000 live births in 2018-2021.