This work reports a study conducted by the United States Department of Labor concerning the death rate in the United States due to or associated with pregnancy or childbirth, as compared with that in other countries. One thousand and seventy-three deaths were studied, of which 997 were assigned to the puerperal state and 76 to nonpuerperal causes. In 1927, the reports of 447 cases, including one of every combination or circumstance were sent abroad, and the condition was classified by sixteen countries as puerperal or nonpuerperal (Australia, Canada, Chile, Czechoslovakia, Denmark, England and Wales, Estonia, France, the Irish Free State, Northern Ireland, Italy, New Zealand, Norway, Scotland, Sweden, The Netherlands).
In Australia, The Netherlands, New Zealand and Scotland the assignments in use are similar to that in United States. In Denmark a larger number of deaths were assigned to the puerperal state; therefore the rate in the United States would