Lauren Dempsey, MS in Biomedicine and Law, RN, FISM News
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According to a new Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report, almost 700 women die in the U.S. each year in pregnancy or childbirth-related deaths. As many as 85% of those deaths are preventable, according to the CDC.
The Maternal Mortality Review Committee (MMRC) reviewed detailed assessments of more than 1,000 pregnancy-related deaths across 36 states between 2017 and 2019. It found that the causes of maternal death vary by demographics, however, the six most common causes were mental health conditions, hemorrhaging, heart problems, infections, blood clots, and cardiomyopathy.
“The majority of pregnancy-related deaths were preventable, highlighting the need for quality improvement initiatives in states, hospitals, and communities that ensure all people who are pregnant or postpartum get the right care at the right time,” said Wanda Barfield, director of the CDC’s Division of Reproductive Health at the National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, in a press release.
The report indicated that just 22% of these deaths occurred during pregnancy, 13% occurred on the day of delivery, and 53% of deaths occurred within the first year postpartum. Sadly, 8.2% of maternal deaths were reported as suicide and almost 3% of deaths were determined to be from homicide.
To put the numbers into perspective, an average of 3.8 million babies were born in the U.S. per year between 2017 and 2019. Additionally, an estimated 883,528 babies were aborted per year during the same time span, according to the Guttmacher Institute, which contacts abortion clinics directly to survey totals. That’s a total of 4.68 million babies either born or aborted per year. That translates to less than .015% of pregnancies in the U.S. that end in the death of the mother, including postpartum deaths up to a year after the birth of the baby.
When compared to other wealthy nations, the United States has dismal maternal outcomes, especially for minority groups, lagging far behind countries like New Zealand, Norway, and the Netherlands. Women of color are more than three times more likely to die during pregnancy and childbirth than white women, according to the CDC.
Related factors that help explain racial disparities, as well as poor outcomes in the U.S. compared to other developed nations include income disparities, overall life expectancy, maternal age, and other pre-existing health issues, including diabetes, hypertension, and obesity.
Birth in the United States is treated like a pathological process requiring physician interference and multiple interventions instead of a natural and normal physiological process. The more interventions that are in place, the more likely it is that complications will occur. Unfortunately, women today are 50% more likely to die during pregnancy and childbirth than their own mothers.
Women in America are also more likely to deliver their babies by C-section when compared to rates in Europe, Asia, Africa, and Oceanic countries.
The MMRC, however, recommends that increased access to insurance coverage would improve prenatal care and follow-up after pregnancy and birth, they also recommend reducing transportation barriers that keep people from getting care and more systems for referrals and coordination.
It also recommends that “healthcare systems, communities, families, and other support systems need to be aware of the serious pregnancy-related complications that can happen during and after pregnancy. Listen to the concerns of people who are pregnant and have been pregnant during the last year and help them get the care they need.”
While this may alleviate some of the issues that mothers face with accessing adequate care during pregnancy, this report highlights a common and worsening trend in healthcare that has increased significantly in the last 30 years. These recommended interventions don’t do much in finding or addressing the root cause of maternal deaths in America.