Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2005 Mar;95(3):471-7.
doi: 10.2105/AJPH.2003.029868.

Homicide: a leading cause of injury deaths among pregnant and postpartum women in the United States, 1991-1999

Jeani Chang  1 , Cynthia J Berg, Linda E Saltzman, Joy Herndon
Affiliations

Homicide: a leading cause of injury deaths among pregnant and postpartum women in the United States, 1991-1999

Jeani Chang et al. Am J Public Health. 2005 Mar.

Abstract

Objectives: We identified risk factors for pregnancy-associated homicide (women who died as a result of homicide during or within 1 year of pregnancy) in the United States from 1991 to 1999.

Methods: Pregnancy-associated homicides were analyzed with data from the Pregnancy Mortality Surveillance System at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Results: Six hundred seventeen (8.4%) homicide deaths were reported to the Pregnancy Mortality Surveillance System. The pregnancy-associated homicide ratio was 1.7 per 100000 live births. Risk factors included age younger than 20 years, Black race, and late or no prenatal care. Firearms were the leading mechanism for homicide (56.6%).

Conclusions: Homicide is a leading cause of pregnancy-associated injury deaths.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

FIGURE 1—
FIGURE 1—
Pregnancy-associated homicide ratios, by year and race, United States, 1991–1999.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Comment in

  • Underreporting of pregnancy-associated deaths.
    Horon IL, Cheng D. Horon IL, et al. Am J Public Health. 2005 Nov;95(11):1879; author reply 1879-80. doi: 10.2105/AJPH.2005.072017. Epub 2005 Sep 29. Am J Public Health. 2005. PMID: 16195505 Free PMC article. No abstract available.

References

    1. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Web-based Injury Statistics Query and Reporting System (WISQARS) [online]. National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (producer). Available at: www.cdc.gov/ncipc/wisqars. Accessed September 12, 2003.
    1. Moracco KE, Runyan CW. Femicide in North Carolina, 1991–1993. Homicide Stud. 1998;2:422–447.
    1. Parsons LH, Harper MA. Violent maternal deaths in North Carolina. Obstet Gynecol. 1999;94:990–993. - PubMed
    1. Fildes J, Reed L, Jones N, Martin M, Barrett J. Trauma: the leading cause of maternal death. J Trauma. 1992;32:643–645. - PubMed
    1. Dannenberg AL, Carter DM, Lawson HW, Ashton DM, Dorfman SF, Graham EH. Homicide and other injuries as causes of maternal death in New York City, 1987 through 1991. Am J Obstet Gynecol. 1995;172: 1557–1564. - PubMed

MeSH terms