Maternal death in the United States: a problem solved or a problem ignored?

The United States has a higher ratio of maternal deaths than at least 40 other countries, even though it spends more money per capita for maternity care than any other. The lack of a comprehensive, confidential system of ascertainment of maternal death designed to record and analyze every maternal death continues to subject U.S. women to unnecessary risk of preventable mortality. Maternal deaths must be reviewed to make motherhood safer. The United Kingdom's Confidential Enquiry into Maternal and Child Health is considered the "gold standard" of national professional self-evaluation. The aim of the Safe Motherhood Quilt Project is to raise public awareness of the rising U.S. maternal death rate and necessary steps to a solution.