Preventing black maternal mortality: A challenge for the 90's.

The authors studied maternal mortality in Chicago and Detroit from 1979 through 1984. The death rates for black women were more than four times the national rate for white women. Many of the conditions causing death were preventable. Since the general condition of the mother prior to pregnancy is a major influence on pregnancy outcome, accessible and high-quality prenatal care is a necessary but not sufficient preventive measure. If black maternal mortality is to be prevented, attention must be directed to the protection and promotion of black women's physical, mental and social well-being, and not just to their reproductive health.