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Friday, Dec. 19, 2025

Is Arizona’s maternal mortality rate among the highest in the U.S.?

Tallulah Anne, Arizona Center for Investigative Reporting
yes

Between 2018 and 2022, the most recent period for which data is available, Arizona’s maternal mortality rate was 30 deaths per 100,000 live births, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. That’s significantly higher than the national average of 23.2, putting Arizona 11th in the country.

Systemic factors help explain Arizona’s elevated rate. Limited access to prenatal and maternal care, particularly in rural areas, can delay or disrupt care and increase health risks. Black and Indigenous Arizonans face disproportionate levels of harm: A 2024 AZCIR report found that women in those groups died at three to five times the rate of their white counterparts during and after pregnancy.

According to March of Dimes, which advocates for maternal and infant health, 20% of pregnant women in Arizona either receive inadequate prenatal care or none at all, compared with about 14.8% nationally. 

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Fact briefs are bite-sized, well-sourced explanations that offer clear "yes" or "no" answers to questions, confusions, and unsupported claims circulating online. They rely on publicly available data and documents, often from the original source. Fact briefs are written and published by newsrooms in the Gigafact network.

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The Arizona Center for Investigative Reporting is the state’s only independent, nonpartisan and collaborative nonprofit newsroom dedicated to statewide, data-driven investigative reporting. AZCIR's mission is to hold powerful people and institutions accountable by exposing injustice and systemic inequities through investigative journalism.

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