Racial disparity in maternal mortality rate "one of the biggest challenges of public health," Harvard expert says

Washington — The number of women who die during or shortly after childbirth is higher in the U.S. than any other developed nation, particularly among women of color. Determining the cause of that racial disparity poses "essentially one of the biggest challenges of public health," the head of a Harvard task force studying the issue said Sunday.

"We see that as a top of the iceberg of poor health in women and poor health in Black women," Dr. Henning Tiemeier, the director of Harvard's Maternal Health Task Force, said in an interview on "Face the Nation." "And there are several reasons, there seems to [be], from poverty to discrimination to poor care for this group of women."

Every year in the U.S., roughly 700 women die while in labor or within the first month of giving birth, Tiemeier said, noting that most of these deaths are "preventable."