The maternal mortality rate in the United States skyrocketed in 2021, with Black women more than twice as likely to die than white women. That’s according to new CDC data, which said the U.S. saw a 40% increase in maternal deaths in 2021 compared to the previous year, largely due to the compounding impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. The U.S.’s maternal mortality rate is more than 10 times higher than the estimated rates in other wealthy countries.