More mothers die shortly after childbirth in Alabama than in any other state in the U.S., according to a new study.

And during a five-year period, almost a third of maternal deaths nationally took place more than six weeks after childbirth, according to research published Wednesday.

And research shows that more than 80% of pregnancy-related deaths are preventable.

The study, published in JAMA Network Open, tracked Centers for Disease Control & Prevention data rarely examined before – maternal health complications during pregnancy and in the year after delivery, from 2018 through 2022.

According to the research, Alabama had the highest rate of deaths, at 59.7 deaths per 100,000 live births, followed by Mississippi at 58.2 deaths per 100,000 live births.

California had the lowest rate at 18.5 deaths per 100,000 live births, followed by Minnesota. If the national rate was the same as the lowest state, 2,679 pregnancy-related deaths would have been avoided during the study’s five-year window.

Pregnancy-related death rates nationwide rose almost 28 percent during the five-year period, rocketing upward during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The New York Times reported that the study identified the risk of so-called later maternal deaths — those that occur from six weeks to one year after the birth.

Cardiovascular disease was the leading cause of deaths overall, as well as the leading cause of late maternal deaths. Other major causes were cancer, mental and behavioral disorders and drug- and alcohol-induced deaths. Accidents and homicides were not included in the analysis.

Dr. Rose L. Molina is an associate professor of obstetrics, gynecology and reproductive biology at Harvard Medical School and one of the study’s authors. She said the study shows that women need “access to high-quality care from the moment of conception to a full year after birth.”

“Our study illustrates why we can’t take our eyes off maternal health,” she said.