Reading Time: < 1 minute

Wisconsin Watch partners with Gigafact to produce fact briefs — bite-sized fact checks of trending claims. Read our methodology to learn how we check claims.

Yes.

Researchers have found that homicide is among the leading causes of death of pregnant women in the U.S.

Women who are pregnant or have recently given birth are more likely to be murdered than to die from the leading obstetric causes of death, Harvard University researchers reported in October 2022. The researchers cited a mix of intimate partner violence and firearms.

A 2021 study led by a Tulane University researcher found homicide is a leading cause of death during pregnancy and the postpartum period. The study reviewed mortality files from 2018 and 2019.

Johns Hopkins University researchers reported in 2021 that the leading causes of pregnancy-associated deaths, as defined by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, are homicide, suicide and drug overdose. The researchers cited intimate partner violence during pregnancy as a factor.

This Fact Brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.

Sources

Harvard Homicide leading cause of death for pregnant women in U.S.

The BMJ Homicide is a leading cause of death for pregnant women in US

Obstetrics & Gynecology Homicide During Pregnancy and the Postpartum Period in the United States, 2018–2019

Journal of Women’s Health Pregnancy-Associated Deaths from Homicide, Suicide, and Drug Overdose

Creative Commons License

Republish our articles for free, online or in print, under a Creative Commons license.

Tom Kertscher joined Wisconsin Watch as a full-time Milwaukee-based reporter in October 2024 after starting as a freelance Fact Briefs reporter in January 2023. In addition to contributing to Wisconsin Watch’s collaboration with The Gigafact Project to combat online misinformation, he reports on Wisconsin policy, labor, energy and the rapid expansion of data centers across the state. Kertscher is a former longtime reporter at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, a contributing writer for Milwaukee Magazine and the author of two sports books, on Al McGuire and Brett Favre.