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U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion

Pregnancy and Childbirth

Goal: Prevent pregnancy complications and maternal deaths and improve women’s health before, during, and after pregnancy.

A pregnant woman sitting in a chair touches her belly.

Women in the United States are more likely to die from childbirth than women living in other developed countries.1 Healthy People 2030 focuses on preventing pregnancy complications and maternal deaths and helping women stay healthy before, during, and after pregnancy.

Some women have health problems that start during pregnancy, and others have health problems before they get pregnant that could lead to complications during pregnancy. Strategies to help women adopt healthy habits and get health care before and during pregnancy can help prevent pregnancy complications. In addition, interventions to prevent unintended pregnancies can help reduce negative outcomes for women and infants.

Women’s health before, during, and after pregnancy can have a major impact on infants’ health and well-being. Women who get recommended health care services before they get pregnant are more likely to be healthy during pregnancy and to have healthy babies. Strategies to help pregnant women get medical care and avoid risky behaviors — like smoking or drinking alcohol — can also improve health outcomes for infants.

Objective Status

  • 3 Target met or exceeded
  • 2 Improving
  • 4 Little or no detectable change
  • 8 Getting worse
  • 2 Baseline only
  • 3 Developmental
  • 0 Research

Learn more about objective types

Related Objectives

The following is a sample of objectives related to this topic. Some objectives may include population data.

Pregnancy and Childbirth — General

Increase the proportion of women who get screened for postpartum depression — MICH‑D01
Developmental
Reduce the rate of fetal deaths at 20 or more weeks of gestation — MICH‑01
Improving
Reduce preterm births — MICH‑07
Getting worse
Increase the proportion of pregnant women who receive early and adequate prenatal care — MICH‑08
Getting worse
Increase the proportion of women who had a healthy weight before pregnancy — MICH‑13
Getting worse

Drug and Alcohol Use

Increase abstinence from alcohol among pregnant women — MICH‑09
Little or no detectable change
Increase abstinence from illicit drugs among pregnant women — MICH‑11
Little or no detectable change
Reduce the proportion of women who use illicit opioids during pregnancy — MICH‑D02
Developmental

Family Planning

Reduce the proportion of pregnancies conceived within 18 months of a previous birth — FP‑02
Target met or exceeded
Reduce pregnancies in adolescents — FP‑03
Target met or exceeded
Increase the proportion of women at risk for unintended pregnancy who use effective birth control — FP‑10
Little or no detectable change
Increase the proportion of adolescent females at risk for unintended pregnancy who use effective birth control — FP‑11
Little or no detectable change
Reduce the proportion of unintended pregnancies — FP‑01
Baseline only

Sexually Transmitted Infections

Reduce the rate of mother-to-child HIV transmission — HIV‑06
Improving
Reduce congenital syphilis — STI‑04
Getting worse

Tobacco Use

Increase abstinence from cigarette smoking among pregnant women — MICH‑10
Target met or exceeded
Increase successful quit attempts in pregnant women who smoke — TU‑15
Getting worse

Vaccination

Increase the proportion of women who get the Tdap vaccine during pregnancy — IID‑D01
Developmental

Women

Reduce maternal deaths — MICH‑04
LHI label
Getting worse
Reduce severe maternal complications identified during delivery hospitalizations — MICH‑05
Getting worse
Reduce cesarean births among low-risk women with no prior births — MICH‑06
Getting worse
Increase the proportion of women of childbearing age who get enough folic acid — MICH‑12
Baseline only

Other topics you may be interested in

References

1.

GBD 2015 Maternal Mortality Collaborators (2016). Global, Regional, and National Levels of Maternal Mortality, 1990–2015: A Systematic Analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2015. The Lancet, 388, 1775–1812.