Getty Images toggle caption Getty Images Experts hope a new insurance provision included in the recent stimulus package could help stem rising maternal mortality in the U.S. Each year, about 700 American women die due to pregnancy, childbirth or subsequent complications. Getty Images When a woman dies during pregnancy or within a year of childbirth in Illinois, that's considered a maternal death. Karen Tabb Dina reviews cases like this in the state of Illinois. She's a maternal health researcher at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign who serves on a state-level committee that's trying to figure out what's causing these mothers to die.