A new study reveals pregnant women in the U.S. face a 37% higher risk of being killed by gun violence than non-pregnant women, highlighting a deadly intersection of domestic violence and gun access.
Researchers at Boston Children's Hospital and Harvard Medical School analyzed more than 7,000 homicides across 37 states from 2018 to 2021, finding homicide is the leading cause of death for pregnant women. Firearms were used in nearly 80% of these cases.
The study, published Monday in JAMA Network Open, shows that states with higher gun ownership rates have significantly more pregnancy-related homicides. For every 1% increase in state-level firearm ownership, firearm homicides of pregnant women increased by 8%.
Louisiana topped the list with 111.4 firearm homicides per 1 million live births, while several states — including Vermont, Rhode Island, New Hampshire, and Oklahoma — reported none during the study period.
"Our findings suggest that risks of pregnancy-associated homicide are shaped not only by individual factors but also by broader systems of inequity," the researchers said.
Black women accounted for the highest proportion of victims at nearly 58% despite representing a smaller share of the overall population.
Women aged 20 to 24 years old were the highest age group proportion of homicides in pregnant women, the study said.
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Most suspects in these homicides were men, and the majority of killings occurred at home or in medical settings shortly after emergency arrival, the study said.
"With more than three-quarters of these deaths caused by firearms, firearm homicide must be considered a maternal health crisis," the researchers wrote in their conclusion. "These deaths are not random. They are predictable and therefore preventable. Preventing homicide during pregnancy will require urgent and coordinated actions from policymakers, public health advocates, and health care systems to address this leading cause of death in pregnant women."
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