All the information posted here is public information, coming from a variety of sources.

1. Submissions from Friends & Family – you can submit here.
2. Our own research, which is honestly a lot of Googling – frequent sources are FindaGrave, the National Gun Violence Memorial, etc.
3. Advocacy organizations, such as the Amniotic Fluid Embolism Foundation and the Safe Motherhood Quilt Project.

Information is verified with a primary source whenever possible. The final sources for the photo/story are always included in each individual profile, which are coming soon!

Please submit! 

An estimated 20,000 women in the U.S. died from pregnancy-related causes between 2001 and 2025…and yet, we’ve only been able to identify less than 1,000 of them.

That gap isn’t just about missing data – it’s a horrific reflection of how little this country values its mothers. Records are inconsistent. Investigations are rare. Death certificates are vague. In some states, maternal deaths aren’t even tracked.

The fact that we don’t know who these women are is not a mystery – it’s a choice. If you knew her, say her name. Share her story. Remember her.

We know that community isn’t always defined by blood. If you’re moved to tell her story, that’s enough. We always verify that the information we are getting is publicly available before posting.

We chose to highlight Women of Color, Veterans, and Healthcare Workers because these groups reflect urgent truths:

• That it can be dangerous to enter a hospital if you’re Black or Brown.
• That serving your country doesn’t guarantee it will protect you in childbirth.
• That even those trained to save lives can’t always save their own.

In future, we may add categories like Maternal Mental Health and Domestic Violence – because too many stories include those, too. This is a living archive, and it will grow as more truths come to light.

Because too often, women get cropped out of their own stories.

We know she didn’t live in isolation. We know she mattered to many. But this is one of the only places that insists: her life mattered on its own. 

But yes, we do have a soft touch for pictures with pets…

Pregnancy-related deaths don’t always fit into neat boxes – and that’s exactly why we’re telling these stories. Whether it was a known complication, a missed diagnosis, a mental health crisis, or a chain of failures no one wants to talk about, it matters.

You don’t have to explain what happened. You just have to tell us who she was. We review every story with care.

Yes, absolutely. We honor every request for removal, no questions asked.

That said, we hope you won’t.

Too many names have already been lost to silence, and silence hasn’t saved lives. But stories might. By sharing her photo and story, you’re helping to preserve her memory and potentially inspire others to speak up, seek help, or feel less alone.

So yes, we will absolutely take it down if you ask. But please know: her story matters. And it might matter more than you know.

Send it anyway.

We’re not here for perfection, we’re here for truth. A blurry photo, a candid moment, a hospital snapshot – it’s all still her. That’s what matters.

We review your submission, verify details if needed, and follow up if we have questions or need clarification. Once everything is ready, we publish the story and photo with care and respect. Publication is typically 2-3 weeks after submission.

Of course. You can use your name, or choose to remain completely anonymous.

We love photos! Currently we only feature one image, but you’re welcome to send more. Our Future Plans are to expand to include multiple photos of each woman.

Yes and yes. We welcome edits and corrections always. And there is a checkbox in the submission form where you can indicate you’d like to see a preview before it goes live.

Too many – and no, that’s not us being vague. That’s the honest answer.

The truth is, the United States doesn’t know exactly how many women die from pregnancy-related causes each year. Our data is delayed, incomplete, and inconsistent across states. Death certificates get misclassified. Causes get blurred. Entire stories get lost.

And that’s not an accident. Because if no one really knows, no one has to take responsibility.

Because this is the wealthiest country in the world – and women are still dying preventable deaths. Countries with similar maternal mortality rates include Syria, Chile, Malaysia, Turkey, and many others that might surprise you.

No shade to these countries, or any country working hard to decrease their maternal mortality rates. The point is that the U.S. spends more on healthcare than any other country, and still can’t keep its mothers alive.

That’s not a resource issue. That’s a priority issue. And it’s embarrassing.

This isn’t the place for victim-blaming. Whether a woman was high-risk, hesitant to seek care, or navigating difficult decisions – she still deserved safety, compassion, and survival. Full stop.

The CDC defines maternal mortality as the death of a woman while pregnant or within 42 days of the end of pregnancy, from any cause related to or aggravated by the pregnancy or its management – not from accidental or incidental causes.

But we go further. We do include:

• Deaths labeled ‘accidental’ or ‘incidental’ like overdose, suicide, or homicide – because pregnancy is a time of heightened vulnerability. In the U.S., homicide is one of the leading causes of death during pregnancy. That’s not incidental. That’s a crisis.
• Late maternal deaths – those that happen 43 days to 1 year postpartum, because we have a record-keeping issue. Like under-reporting by anywhere from 39-93%. Even though we know the risk doesn’t vanish at six weeks. Cardiomyopathy. Stroke. Suicide. The body is still healing. The mind is still processing. And the system still isn’t listening.

If pregnancy set the stage, we believe the outcome matters – no matter when the curtain fell.

The top causes include hemorrhage, infection, blood clots, high blood pressure disorders like preeclampsia, and heart conditions.

But here’s what might surprise you: homicide is actually a leading cause of death for pregnant women.

Domestic violence, mental health crises, and overdoses kill more mothers than we want to admit. It’s not just medical complications – it’s the whole system failing women.

Because we’re going backwards while other countries move forward. We have more C-sections, more medical interventions, more chronic health conditions, and less consistent prenatal care. We close labor & delivery units and OB practices in rural areas and expect women to drive hours in labor.

Oh, and we’re one of the only developed countries without paid maternity leave, so women go back to work before their bodies recover. It’s not rocket science – it’s an entire system that was not designed to take care of women.

Many reasons, but none of them are because of biology.

• Black women are 3-4 times more likely to die from pregnancy-related causes than white women, regardless of education or income level.
• Indigenous women face similar disparities.
• Rural women die at higher rates because of hospital closures and distance to care.

It’s a system that treats some women as disposable.

Yes. When someone dies in a car accident, we don’t shrug and say ‘well, accidents happen.’ We improve safety features, change laws, and make driving safer. But when women die from ‘rare’ pregnancy complications, suddenly everyone acts like it’s inevitable.

Here’s the truth: rare doesn’t mean acceptable. Amniotic fluid embolism is rare – it also has warning signs that get ignored. Postpartum hemorrhage is unpredictable yes, but it doesn’t have to be deadly. But it is when hospitals don’t have protocols in place or don’t act fast enough.

Other countries have the same rare complications we do, they just don’t let women die from them. The UK, Sweden, Norway and many other countries have maternal mortality rates that are a fraction of ours. It’s not because their women are different. It’s because their systems actually work.

Every time someone says ‘these things happen’, they’re admitting the system failed and they’re okay with it. We’re not.