While much of the national discussion around the United States’ abysmal rate of maternal deaths and injuries has focused on the larger societal ills such as obesity and access to prenatal care, Deadly Deliveries zeroed in on one shocking and uncomfortable truth: Hospitals know how to protect mothers. They just aren’t doing it. Across the nation, women giving birth needlessly die and suffer life-altering injuries because of substandard medical care, the USA Today investigation revealed. USA Today’s first-of-its-kind analysis of hospital billing data from 7 million births found that about one in eight hospitals have complication rates of at least double the norm. 

Among the many reasons USA Today identified were internal records showing that less than 15% of new mothers experiencing common yet dangerous emergencies promptly received treatments that are long known to save lives – and recommended for years by leading medical organizations. The story for the first time identified hospitals where mothers are being harmed more often, surveyed them on their safety practices and ended a longstanding practice of such research being done in a way that anonymizes the hospitals where mothers are harmed most often. The exclusive searchable database on childbirth complication rates at maternity hospitals we created is the first web link in this entry.

The series prompted sweeping changes, including a decision by the leading accreditation body for hospitals to make several childbirth safety best practices a condition of accreditation. And, Deadly Deliveries prompted multiple Congressional hearings, inquiries and legislative proposals.