DHEC brings attention to health pregnancy-related health concerns

COLUMBIA, S.C. (WOLO)– Today is National Maternal Health Awareness Day.

State health officials are using the occasion to bring attention to pregnancy-related health concerns and lowering the state’s maternal mortality rate.

According to the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control (DHEC), the leading causes of pregnancy related deaths in South Carolina are cardiomyopathy, mental health conditions and hemorrhage.

In South Carolina, pregnancy-related deaths increased by 9.3% from 2018 to 2019.

Non-Hispanic Black women were 67% more likely to experience a pregnancy-related death compared to non-Hispanic White women during that period, and women who resided in rural South Carolina counties had a 70.4% higher rate of a pregnancy-related death than their urban counterparts, said a DHEC press release.

“The increase in pregnancy-related deaths and the disparities we see in outcomes for mothers in South Carolina raises the alarm that we must do more to address maternal health. More than 80% of pregnancy-related deaths are preventable,” said Dr. Edward Simmer, DHEC director.

For more on the state’s efforts to lower the maternal death rate click here.