Being Pregnant
Modern Maternity Care Failing American Mothers
While maternity care in the United States has come a long way since the Pilgrims stepped foot on Plymouth Rock, most Americans think we are a lot better off than we truly are. When I first started writing Momotics, it was called Birth, Babies, and Everything in Between, but mostly focused on childbirth. I felt the need to go back to my original roots this weekend after reading an amazing post on our maternal mortality rates at RHRealityCheck.com.
The piece focused on statistics, reports, and Amnesty International’s Deadly Delivery publication from earlier in the year. I am always fascinated to see real numbers regarding something I have become so passionate about on my own since having children and becoming heavily involved in the childbirth community.
On my site I wrote:
In the United States we are spending the most per birth in the world. In one year, the United States spends a reported $86 Billion dollars in pregnancy related hospitalizations… That is a TON of money. Yet the maternal mortality rate in our country is higher than 49… Yes that is right… 49 other countries around the world, which include South Korea, and Kuwait. True story!
According to the Deadly Delivery report a woman in the United States is five times more likely to die during childbirth than in Greece, four times more likely to die during childbirth in Germany, and three times more likely to die during childbirth in Spain. All countries with birth rates that can be considered comparable to the United States.
While we have a higher population, and birth rate annually, these factors are certainly taken into consideration when calculating these statistics.Every 90 seconds… a woman dies from a pregnancy related cause. 2-3 of those women are in the United States.
Since 1990, the maternal mortality rate here has DOUBLED. We have been taking steps backwards, clearly not forwards.
During this time we have also seen a rise in managed births, and the way childbirth is handled. More c-sections, more inductions, more complications in pregnancy, and a slight rise in multiples. Not enough to warrant the cesarean rise by any means, which some use as the main culprit.
During 2004, and 2005, a simple period of two years – 68,433 women died during childbirth, or from a complication of childbirth. That is simply way too many mothers gone.
It is not to be upsetting to pregnant women, or to scare new mothers. It is about helping to educate women on the real risks, and possibilities of childbirth today. Not all mothers having a baby will be at increased risk for maternal mortality in our country — certain social groups are most at risk according to these reports:
Mothers of immigrant descent, limited English, limited prenatal care availability, women in the African American community, and of course mothers living in inner cities.
photo: flickr.com/archibald jude
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The United States Loses Over 68000 Mothers Annually | Being Pregnant | ChildBirth 101 commented on Dec 13 10 at 6:47 pmlaura commented on Dec 13 10 at 1:24 pm“According to the Deadly Delivery report a woman in the United States is five times more likely to die during childbirth than in Greece, four times more likely to die during childbirth in Germany, and three times more likely to die during childbirth in Spain”
This sentence doesn’t have parallel construction and it reads like the US is worse than Greece, but better than Germany and Spain. Is that what you meant? Or did you mean to say “four times more likely to die during childbirth THAN A WOMAN in Germany…”etc.
Also, “Every 90 seconds… a woman dies from a pregnancy related cause. 2-3 of those women are in the United States.” Are you saying 2/3rds are women in the US??? (if not, what are you saying?) if 2-3 was meant to be a ratio, I feel like you might have found a 2/3 for the mortality RATE but not the NUMBER. that seems oddly high. Especially considering the LA Times reported this year that “Each day in the U.S., two women die of problems related to pregnancy or childbirth.”
As an aside (not to take away from the fact that we should strive to provide equitible healthcare to all), these stats are also a reflection of America’s record-keeping standards, which are likely more stringent than other countries (as they are more stringent than they were 10 yrs ago).
Danielle625 commented on Dec 13 10 at 1:35 pmLaura, the statement means :
Women in the United States are five times more likely to die during childbirth than women in Greece.
Four times more likely to die during childbirth than women in Germany.
And three times more likely to die during childbirth than women in Spain.Secondly, every 90 seconds around the world a woman dies from a pregnancy related complication. Two to three of those women are in the United States. That is the exact statement given in the deadly delivery report. I am assuming the percentage may be 2.x number which is why they used the statement 2-3.
My impression is when you use a ratio it would be formatted as 2:3
laura commented on Dec 13 10 at 2:49 pmI checked your link. It says: every 90 seconds a woman dies from pregnancy related causes. Although the vast majority of these deaths are in the developing world, it is also an issue in the United States…” A couple paragraphs later it says: “Two to three women die each day in the US because of pregnancy-related causes.” I think you combined those into one statement, and lost that meaning. If one woman dies every 90 seconds, two to three of those one woman can’t be from America because that makes no sense logically or mathematically.
BTW, a ration can be expressed as a fraction, a statement, a percent and with a colon.
If that is what the statement meant (women in Germany, etc.), I’d recommend correcting it grammatically. Because that isn’t what it says as it is written.
Blue commented on Dec 15 10 at 4:44 pmThe maternal mortality rate stinks, yes, but some factors are ignored here. The article quotes “During this time we have also seen a rise in managed births, and the way childbirth is handled. More c-sections, more inductions, more complications in pregnancy, and a slight rise in multiples.”
A) Correlation is NOT causation. If that were the case one could also cite the rise in homebirths as a potential cause. (Is it?)
B) Older mothers.
C) Greater use of in vitro fertilization resulting in multiples in older mothers.
D) The overall most probable cause–poor access to healthcare and prenatal care, particularly among low-income women with little or no insurance.
Blue commented on Dec 15 10 at 4:48 pmFor example, this, published today on Babble also: ttp://blogs.babble.com/being-pregnant/2010/12/15/extreme-advanced-maternal-age-linked-to-high-risks-in-pregnancy-birth/
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