"...maternal mortality is significantly more common among African-Americans, low-income women and in rural areas..."

I also hope each country has the same definition of what constitutes "pregnancy-related complications".

Either way, it is not good that it increased slightly between 1990 and 2000, but the spike up from 2000 to 2015 is huge concern! Why did it go up so steeply? I really hope action is taken to reverse the trend.

On the other hand, the article states that "Infant mortality has fallen to its lowest point in history, the CDC reports, reflecting 50 years of efforts by the public health community to prevent birth defects, reduce preterm birth, and improve outcomes for very premature infants." (of course, this excludes abortions, but that is a different discussion)

More details on the worldwide study of maternal mortality:
https://www.thelancet.com/pdfs/journals/lancet/PIIS0140-6736(16)31470-2.pdf