Previously the issue of maternal mortality has been discussed on this blog: Take Two: Mushroom poisoning and maternal death with childbirth

An update on this topic from NPR: Full Link  Nearly Dying In Childbirth: Why Preventable Complications Are Growing In U.S.

For the past year, ProPublica and NPR have been examining why the U.S. has the highest rate of maternal mortality in the industrialized world. That relative high rate of death, though, has overshadowed the far more pervasive problem that experts call “severe maternal morbidity.” 

Each year in the U.S., 700 to 900 women die related to pregnancy and childbirth. But for each of those women who die, up to 70 suffer hemorrhages, organ failure or other significant complications. That amounts to more than 1 percent of all births. The annual cost of these near deaths to women, their families, taxpayers and the health care system runs into billions of dollars