All Access

All-Access Weekly Digest

Standard

Salt Lake City

blue

Get smarter, faster on the most consequential news unfolding in Salt Lake City

Axios Salt Lake City

Salt Lake City Alerts

Alert

Axios Salt Lake City Thought Bubble

Thought Bubble

Salt Lake City Members

Membership

The maternal mortality rate in the U.S. spiked in 2021, with deaths disproportionately impacting Black women.

Why it matters: The U.S. still has one of the highest maternal mortality rates in the developed world, and previous research has largely attributed that to an outsized prevalence among Black mothers, Axios' Tina Reed reports.

Driving the news: More than 1,200 women died during pregnancy or shortly after giving birth in 2021, a 40% increase from 2020, according to data released last week by the National Center for Health Statistics.

In 2020, 861 women died during pregnancy or quickly thereafter, compared to 754 women in 2019.

Context: Maternal mortality rates climbed during the pandemic, likely due to COVID-19 itself and the pandemic's impact on delaying care for other conditions.

Zoom in: Utah's pregnancy-related mortality rate between 2018 and 2020 was 21.5 maternal deaths per 100,000 live births, according to the latest state health department data, released last week.

More than 15 Utah mothers died in 2020 from pregnancy-related causes during or shortly after pregnancy.

Catch up quick: From 2007 to 2014, Utah's maternal death rate was consistently below the nation's — between 10 and 17 deaths per 100,000 births.

Utah's rate spiked in 2015 to 25.6 and hovered around that level for most of the years since; meanwhile, national rates sat around 17 or 18 per 100,000.

Yes, but: Utah's population is relatively small, and the numbers can fluctuate significantly from year to year, said Nickee Andjelic, manager of the state health department's maternal and infant health program.

That can make it hard to extrapolate larger trends in statewide data.

Data and image via the Utah Public Health Indicator-Based Information System

Between the lines: There are stark disparities in the maternal death rate, according to the national data.

In 2021, the maternal mortality rate for Black women U.S.-wide was 69.9 deaths per 100,000 live births, compared to a rate of 26.6 per 100,000 for white women.

A report breaking down maternal mortality by demographics at the state level is expected later this year, according to Andjelic.

Maternal mortality trends are tough to pin down in Utah

Utah's pregnancy-related mortality rate between 2018 and 2020 was 21.5 maternal deaths per 100,000 live births.

Pregnancy

The maternal mortality rate in the U.S.<a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text=" spiked in 2021" data-vars-click-url="https://www.axios.com/2023/03/16/maternal-mortality-rate-cdc-pandemic" data-vars-content-id="6b591afb-220c-4116-90ab-5bd618337c11" data-vars-headline="Maternal mortality trends are tough to pin down in Utah" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.axios.com/2023/03/16/maternal-mortality-rate-cdc-pandemic" target="_self"> spiked in 2021</a>, with deaths disproportionately impacting Black women.Why it matters: The U.S. still has one of the highest maternal mortality rates in the developed world, and previous research has largely attributed that to an outsized prevalence among Black mothers,<a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text=" Axios&#x27; Tina Reed reports" data-vars-click-url="https://www.axios.com/2022/02/23/us-maternal-mortality-disparities-by-race" data-vars-content-id="6b591afb-220c-4116-90ab-5bd618337c11" data-vars-headline="Maternal mortality trends are tough to pin down in Utah" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.axios.com/2022/02/23/us-maternal-mortality-disparities-by-race" target="_self"> Axios&#x27; Tina Reed reports</a>.

News

Whats Next

Axios What's Next

73.8% of domestic flights departed Salt Lake City International on time in December 2022, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation.

Context: That's down from 86.5% in November 2022, a 12.7 percentage point drop, per recently released data from the department's Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS).

The big picture: Nationally, just 69.1% of December's flights departed on time.

That figure sits between 75-80% in a typical month, albeit with predictable dips in the busy — and often meteorologically challenging — summer and winter travel seasons.

Zoom in: Salt Lake's Airport got 3.1 inches of snow last November, while December saw 22.6 inches pile up, the airport's director of communications and marketing Nancy Volmer told Axios SLC.

"This resulted in more de-icing activity and snow removal, which can impact flight operations," she said, adding extreme winter weather can have a "ripple effect" of delays and cancellations nationwide. 

Zoom out: Salt Lake City International Airport typically has a strong reputation for its on-time service, ranking third globally and first in North America for on-time service in 2022, according to a study by aviation analytics firm Cirium.

Driving the news: The real story in December was, of course, Southwest Airlines' epic meltdown.

54.8% of Southwest flights departed SLC on time in December.

Just 57.3% of Southwest's December flights departed on time nationally, compared to 77.2% for Delta Air Lines, 72.5% for American Airlines and 70.7% for United Airlines.

Southwest's struggles dragged down the average for all carriers reporting data to BTS.

Yes, but: All indications so far suggest Southwest has recovered nicely since December, though BTS' data reports lag by about three months.

The airline has promised to update key systems that exacerbated December's meltdown, as well as better communicate with passengers whose flights are delayed or canceled in the future.

What they're saying: "We spend a lot of money on technology and recently put in a new state-of-the-art maintenance system, a new reservation system and a new human capital workday system," Southwest CEO Bob Jordan told Axios' Eleanor Hawkins.

The bottom line: December was truly just as bad as it seemed, the data shows.

December's air travel meltdown was as bad as it seemed

73.8% of domestic flights departed Salt Lake City International on time in December 2022, down from 86.5% in November.

73.8% of domestic flights departed Salt Lake City International on time in December 2022, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation.Context: That&#x27;s down from 86.5% in November 2022, a 12.7 percentage point drop, per recently released data from the department&#x27;s Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS).

Business

A radiologist on Wednesday showed jurors X-rays and brain scans of a retired optometrist who is suing actress Gwyneth Paltrow for a 2016 ski collision he says left him with long-term injuries and brain damage.

Driving the news: The testimony came a day after the trial against Paltrow got underway in a Park City, Utah courtroom. Terry Sanderson, 76, is seeking $300,000 in damages.

What they're saying: Wendell Gibby, a neuropsychologist, said brain images suggest it's improbable that Sanderson crashed into Paltrow.

The head trauma likely resulted from a skier slamming into Sanderson, Gibby said, adding, "The rib fractures certainly corroborate that there was enough force to cause a head injury."

"After his accident, [Sanderson] deteriorated abruptly. And many of the activities that he used to do, he stopped doing," the physician said.

Flashback: Sanderson sued Paltrow in 2019, accusing the Goop founder of being "out of control" on the ski hill at Deer Valley Resort, according to court documents obtained by CNN.

Paltrow denied the allegations and countersued, claiming Sanderson collided into her, and suggesting he's trying to capitalize on her fame to get her to "pay him millions," per court documents. She is seeking the cost of her lawyer fees.

Between the lines: "At its core, the case hinges on skiing etiquette," The New York Times reports. "Both Ms. Paltrow and Mr. Sanderson have claimed that they were the downhill skier and therefore had the right of way on the beginner's run."

Ski etiquette and Gwyneth Paltrow on trial in Park City

Terry Sanderson sued Paltrow in 2019, accusing the Goop founder of being "out of control" on the ski hill at Deer Valley Resort.

Actress Gwyneth Paltrow looks on before leaving the courtroom on March 21, where she is accused in a lawsuit of crashing into a skier during a 2016 family ski vacation, leaving him with brain damage and four broken ribs. Photo: Rick Bowmer-Pool/Getty Image

Hollywood

A radiologist on Wednesday showed jurors X-rays and brain scans of a retired optometrist who is suing actress Gwyneth Paltrow for a 2016 ski collision he says left him with long-term injuries and brain damage.Driving the news: The testimony came a day after the trial against Paltrow got underway in a Park City, Utah courtroom. Terry Sanderson, 76, is seeking $300,000 in damages.

Gigi Sukin

Featured stories

Maternal mortality trends are tough to pin down in Utah

December's air travel meltdown was as bad as it seemed

Ski etiquette and Gwyneth Paltrow on trial in Park City