http://www.now.org/issues/violence/043003pregnant.html
Homicide was found to be the leading cause of death for
pregnant women in Maryland, according to a March 2001 study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association. Using death records and coroner reports, state health department researchers found 247 pregnancy-associated deaths between 1993 and 1998. Among those deaths, 50 were murders. By comparison, homicide was the fifth-leading cause of death among Maryland women. And, nationwide, the maternal mortality rate was just 9.9 percent in 1999, the most recent year for which statistics are available.
Nationally, homicide is a leading killer of young women—pregnant or not. In 1999, homicide was the second-leading cause of death among women ages 20 to 24. It was fifth among women ages 25-34. Accidents are the top cause of death in both age groups.
The Maryland study reinforced at least two earlier studies
Most pregnancies are among very young women. If homicide is a leading cause of death among young women, it stands to reason it should be a leading cause of death among the pregnant, who are mostly young women. Hardly a statistical shock.