Black women in Nevada are dying from pregnancy-related causes at rates that state reviewers describe as both extreme and preventable. The latest statewide review shows death rates for Black, non-Hispanic Nevadans towering over those for white residents, and community organizers used Black Maternal Health Week to push hard for reforms. Public-health leaders and doulas are calling for expanded addiction and mental health treatment, stronger care coordination, and prenatal and postpartum care that is both accessible and culturally competent.
State report lays out the gap
The Nevada Department of Health and Human Services' Maternal Mortality and Severe Maternal Morbidity report for 2022–2023 found that Black, non-Hispanic Nevadans had the highest pregnancy-associated death ratio at 196.1 per 100,000 live births, compared with 88.1 per 100,000 for White, non-Hispanic residents. That means Black residents faced roughly 3.7 times the risk and accounted for about 31% of pregnancy-associated deaths statewide, according to the Nevada Department of Health and Human Services. Most deaths occurred in Clark County, while several smaller rural counties had higher death ratios relative to their number of births. State reviewers listed dozens of system-level and provider-level recommendations they say could prevent many of these deaths.
Overdoses, heart problems and obstetric causes
Drug overdoses, cardiac conditions and complications of pregnancy and childbirth were repeatedly cited as underlying or contributing causes in the statewide review. In response, local health programs are centering overdose prevention and treatment. Roseman University’s EMPOWERED program has expanded services and in-home recovery support to reach pregnant and postpartum people who need help. Advocates add that tackling substance use and mental health must happen alongside better prenatal access and care that is culturally congruent if the numbers are going to move.
Advocates used Black Maternal Health Week to press for change
Advocates marked Black Maternal Health Week, held April 11–17, 2026, with community events and a coordinated national message push, according to the Black Mamas Matter Alliance toolkit for the week. The Black Mamas Matter Alliance provided toolkits and talking points, while local coverage amplified the committee’s findings. FOX5 Vegas reported that the state review shows Black women in Nevada are nearly three times more likely to die from pregnancy-related causes than white women.
Panel recommendations aim for quick fixes
The Maternal Mortality Review Committee (MMRC) issued recommendations at multiple levels, including mandating priority access to medication-assisted treatment for substance use for pregnant people, universal screening for mental health and substance use disorders during prenatal care, and stronger care coordination between hospitals and community providers. The committee set a target date of July 1, 2025, for putting priority access to treatment in place and asked state agencies to audit referral and admission pathways, according to the Nevada Department of Health and Human Services. MMRC members wrote that turning these recommendations into funded programs and concrete system changes will be crucial to preventing more avoidable deaths.
Community groups say policy plus supports are needed
Local organizers and doulas argue that policy tweaks alone are not enough and that families need practical supports as well. They point to Medicaid expansions, doula access, housing and food security, and more Black perinatal providers as tools to reduce risk for vulnerable families. The Nevada Minority Health and Equity Coalition tracks local programs and events and has highlighted maternity-care deserts and uneven distribution of services across the state. Local reporting has lifted up doulas and panelists who say isolation and gaps in care make bad outcomes more likely. Coverage of community panels and organizer voices in the Las Vegas Review‑Journal underscores how lived experience and system failures collide.
Numbers demand action
The MMRC’s data frame this crisis as a policy and systems failure with clearly identified levers for change, not a medical mystery. At the national level, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that Black women are roughly three times more likely than white women to die of pregnancy-related causes, a pattern Nevada’s figures mirror and that local advocates say should heighten the urgency to act. CDC data and the state review together give policymakers a detailed roadmap. Increasing treatment access, screening, care coordination and culturally congruent care are all identified as steps that could prevent many of the deaths documented in the report.
