How Does Childbirth Compare To The Most Dangerous Jobs In America?

Have you ever fallen down a TikTok hole? We don’t mean just scrolling the app for hours (though, like, guilty). A TikTok hole is more like a Wiki-hole, where one link leads you to another article leads you to another article, ad nauseam? I recently experienced that after stumbling upon creator Jordyn Albright’s birth video, which was accompanied by audio from another creator, Nick Powers saying the following…

“Giving birth is more dangerous than nearly every job in America. Maternal mortality right now is 32.9 out of every 100,000. Let’s put that in perspective. If having a baby were a job, it would be the sixth most dangerous job in the United States, just ahead of truck driving, which is 29 per 100K.

“Let’s add a little bit more perspective. In 2021, there were 660,288 police officers in the United States, but according to the FBI only about 129 of them were killed in the line of duty. That means the police mortality rate is about 19.53 per 100K, which means if a police officer’s partner gets pregnant their partner is actually in more danger than the police officer is.

“Let’s do one more comparison. According to the U.S. Army, the mortality rate for active duty soldiers is about 1.3 for every 100,000. Which means if a soldier’s partner gets pregnant before they go out to active duty, their pregnant partner is around 25 times more likely to lose their life than the active duty soldier.

“Giving birth is the most dangerous thing that most Americans will ever have to do within their lifetime, so it should be voluntary. If men won’t listen to women who are telling them that, maybe they’ll listen to a cis white dude who’s telling them to listen to women.

Needless to say, we found this information fascinating, but because we don’t believe everything we hear someone say on TikTok, we wanted to see if it held up to the data. Here’s what we found.

Giving Birth Is More Dangerous Than Nearly Every Job In America: True*

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the 10 most dangerous jobs in the country are Loggers (far and away #1 with 100.7 deaths per 100,000), Roofers, Fishing and Hunting workers, Helpers/Construction Trades, Aircraft Pilots and Flight Engineers, Drivers/Sales Workers/Truck Drivers, Recycling and Refuse Material Collectors, Structural Iron and Steel Workers, Underground Mining Machine Operators, and Agricultural Workers, who come in around 20 deaths per 100,000. According to Powers’ calculations, giving birth would fall just above truck drivers. However…

Maternal Mortality Right Now Is 32.9 Out Of Every 100,000: False

This was true in 2021, and while maternal mortality rates had been steadily increasing prior to that year (17.4 per 100,000 in 2018; 20.1 in 2019; 23.8 in 2020), 32.9 was an outlier and likely had to do with the Covid-19 pandemic, which saw its zenith that year.

According to the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the maternal mortality rate in 2022 was 22.3 out of 100,000, which represents a precipitous drop from the year before, but unfortunately remained above pre-pandemic levels. Fortunately, preliminary data from the CDC puts 2023’s rate at about 19.7 — lower than 2019’s rate but higher than 2017.

So while Powers’ claim that childbirth would be the sixth most dangerous job doesn’t hold up to current data, his larger point — that birth ranks among the most dangerous jobs — remains: at 19.7 deaths per 100,000, childbirth is just about as dangerous as the 10th most dangerous job in the country.

A Police Officer’s Pregnant Partner Is In More Danger Than The Officer Is On The Job: True

Powers’ math is mathing here, but the math is a bit outdated. However, based on new numbers, his point has become even more true.

In 2021, the FBI reports there were 660,288 police officers in the country and 129 deaths in the line of duty — 73 were “felonious”deaths, or deaths caused by incidents of unprovoked attacks, vehicular pursuits, or responding to a crime in progress. The remaining 56 (approximately 43%) were killed in accidents, predominantly motor vehicle accidents (not related to pursuing a suspect). This puts the death rate per 100,000 at about 19.53.

Since 2021, however, the number of police in the United States has increased considerably — more than 720,000 — and the number of deaths has decreased, particularly felonious deaths, which dropped to 60 in 2023. So a police officer’s risk of felonious death is 8.3 out of 100,000 as of 2023.

An Active Duty Soldier’s Pregnant Partner Is In More Danger Than The Soldier: Unclear

It seems that Powers is getting his 1.3 for every 100,000 statistic from Army data from 2021 that did indeed cite this number, touting it as lower than the overall U.S. work-related fatality rate (3.4 per 100,000 at the time). However, this appears to account exclusively for accidents, both on and off duty. While this is useful data in building Powers’ point, it doesn’t count for suicide, which is a top cause of death among active duty military.

Motherhood Should Be Voluntary: True

Obviously. Whether or not it’s dangerous (and it is, especially for Black women). Because at the end of the day, birth isn’t, and never should be, a job.