A flurry of articles lately address the troubling trend of increasing maternal mortality in the U.S., which has doubled in the last two decades. Two women die each day due to pregnancy-related complications and another 175 women suffer severe complications requiring major medical intervention — equivalent to about 65,000 close calls annually, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Vox covered the work that California has done with the California Maternal Quality Care Collaborative and the work that North Carolina is doing to close its black-white maternal death gap, since black moms across the US are three and a half times more likely to die in childbirth than white Americans. Texas recently passed several bills aimed at curbing the trend, directing the state’s Task Force on Maternal Morbidity and Mortality to continue to study the issue and adding a labor and delivery nurse to the team. One Texas doctor suggests that addressing maternal mortality starts with preventing unwanted pregnancies. More investigation into data and potential policy options is needed to address maternal mortality and severe maternal morbidity in Washington State.