U.S. one of few countries with rise in maternal deaths

[Judi Lynn]

Source: USA Today

U.S. one of few countries with rise in maternal deaths
Kim Painter, Special for USA TODAY 12:26 p.m. EDT May 2, 2014

The United States is one of just eight countries in the world where deaths related to pregnancy and childbirth rose between 2003 and 2013, a new report says. That puts it in the company of countries such as Afghanistan, Belize and El Salvador.

While U.S. maternal mortality rates remain lower than those in many poor countries, they are much higher than those in developed countries ranging from the United Kingdom to Saudi Arabia, says the report, published Friday in the Lancet by researchers at the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) at the University of Washington in Seattle.

The maternal death rate per 100,000 U.S. women was 12.4 in 1990, 17.6 in 2003 and 18.5 in 2013, the report says. The global rate per 100,000 was 209 and falling in 2013; the rate in developed countries was 12.1, half the 1990 rate.

The continued rise in the United States may reflect "the performance of the health system as a whole," and "poorer access to essential health care," compared with other developed countries, says study author Nicholas Kassebaum. It also may reflect health problems in U.S. women, he says.




Read more: http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2014/05/02/maternal-deaths-united-states/8602637/

[indepat]

1. Just one of the joys of living in a country in which government operates to the whim of plutocrats

rather than trying to promote the general welfare.

[yurbud]

21. Hippocratic Oath in Washington: First do no harm (to corporate profits)

then bust your ass to HELP corporate profits go up.

[Cal Carpenter]

2. Measures like this will be the true test of the ACA.

I hope this trend does not continue, and is reversed, now that so many more are insured. Our country is terrible compared to our 'peers' in so many health outcomes.

Time will tell.

[someone else]

18. The ACA is a POS

We need single payer.

[BlancheSplanchnik]

3. couldn't possibly have anything to do with the closing down of Women's Clinics

across red states. The so-called "Pro-Life" [font size=0]bowel[/font] movement mobilizing to force women to give birth and take away access to healthcare has absolutely nothing to do with it.

[Judi Lynn]

7. No doubt whatsoever. Here's an article I saw after reading your comment:

In Matters of Abortion, the Personal Is Political, Especially for Women of Color
Posted on May 1, 2014
By Sonali Kolhatkar



[font size=1]

An abortion opponent calls out to patients while clinic escorts secure signs on the front gates to prevent
the abortion opponents from visually confronting patients as they enter the Jackson Women’s Health
Organization clinic in Jackson, Miss., last year. AP/Rogelio V. Solis

[/font]

Several years ago I accompanied a close friend who was visiting the U.S. to a Planned Parenthood clinic in Southern California. She was terribly unhappy in her marriage but had just realized she was pregnant. While I sat in the waiting room during her abortion procedure, I thought about how fortunate it was that she had a way out of her desperate situation. That experience underscored for me how so many women living in other countries don’t have access to abortion services like we do in the United States.

So much has changed in the U.S. over the last few years. Decades ago, Mississippi had dozens of abortion clinics. Today, women in that state may find themselves in the same situation as those living in countries where the right to abortion is either outright banned or severely restricted, such as in Ireland, El Salvador, Iran or the Philippines. A law requiring that abortion clinics make arrangements with nearby hospitals to admit women having abortions in case of a medical emergency could force Mississippi’s last remaining abortion clinic to shut down. A 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals is considering whether to enforce the law. The “admitting privileges” law is just the latest creative attempt by abortion opponents to whittle away at women’s reproductive rights.

Similar laws have been passed and enforced in many other Southern states such as Florida, Alabama, Texas, Louisiana, Oklahoma and South Carolina, forcing the closures of many clinics. In fact, the entire state of Texas, home to 26 million people, is expected to have only six operating abortion clinics when its admitting privileges law goes fully into effect later this year, after the shutdown of many clinics. Proponents of such laws contend they are simply protecting women who may have complications arising from abortions. But an abortion is one of the safest medical procedures being carried out today. In fact, women are 14 times more likely to die during childbirth than from complications related to an abortion.

When abortion is criminalized or simply made unavailable, women’s health is severely jeopardized. It is estimated that in the years before the Roe v. Wade Supreme Court decision legalizing abortion, more than a million women a year self-induced abortions in the U.S., and 5,000 women died annually as a result of unsafe procedures. The lack of access to safe abortions is among the top three leading causes of maternal mortality worldwide. The “pro-lifers” pushing anti-abortion laws are apparently unconcerned about the medical complications that arise from women not having access to legal and safe abortions.

More:
http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/in_matters_of_abortion_the_personal_is_political_20140501

[BlancheSplanchnik]

19. that's the truth, right there.

Thanks, that's an excellent article. And infuriating.

Ugh...I can't start ranting now, I need to get to bed. There's a lot to rant about. idiot "pro-lifers" are tunnel visioned fetus fetishists. Teh Babeeez they're so upset about are a fantasy...no more real than a toy doll.

[snot]

4. K&R'd.

[Ash_F]

5. Well, that's embarrassing. /nt

[blkmusclmachine]

6. Corresponds w/the rise of the Teabaggers influence in the GOP and its obstruction of womens health!!

[BlancheSplanchnik]

20. yes, and the rise of the christofascists before the tp was invented

and bankrolled by the kochs.

[SunSeeker]

8. K & R for exposure. nt

[azurnoir]

9. so according to this it's safer for a woman to give birth in Saudi Arabia than in the US?

took a moment for me to wrap my head around that one, what does that say about us? Hopefully ACA will help change that

[muriel_volestrangler]

11. Yes - Saudi Arabia 7.0 deaths per 100,000 live births; USA 18.5

Saudi Arabia does better than Canada too - their figure is 8.2.

[muriel_volestrangler]

10. Both reports (maternal deaths and under 5 deaths) can be downloaded here:

http://www.healthmetricsandevaluation.org/

[JoeyT]

12. That not a week goes by without some jackasses

spilling a bunch of crap into the municipal drinking water somewhere probably isn't helping much either.

[Sunlei]

15. you're right! State Govs even know Stillbirth rates are tied to lead in drinking water!

Stillbirth rates tied to lead in drinking water.

https://www.sciencenews.org/article/stillbirth-rates-tied-lead-drinking-water

Some States are killing a lot of people by ignoring the science while they vote time and time again to get rid of 'Obamacare' .

[Sunlei]

13. I am pro-life and this USA death rate of Mothers and their infants is unacceptable!

Woman and their family need close to their homes, medical health facilities, and access to health care!

It is ridiculous, a tragedy! some politicians care more about their religious stuff, their income tax & 'Corporation freedom', than the exposure of pregnant woman to toxic chemicals, poor nutrition & no close health care!

[Brickbat]

14. If the U.S. were truly a pro-life nation, this would be addressed.

[sakabatou]

16. It would be good to see where such rates are going up where

[Judi Lynn]

22. So far, all I found was from the World Bank, covering 2009 to 2013,

but it is also different from what we would have expected!

http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SH.STA.MMRT

[Judi Lynn]

17. From the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation:

PUBLIC RELEASE DATE:

2-May-2014

Maternal deaths on the rise in the United States

US falls behind most high-income countries, and is one of only eight worldwide showing disturbing trend

SEATTLE — The United States is among just eight countries in the world to experience an increase in maternal mortality since 2003 – joining Afghanistan and countries in Africa and Central America, according to a new study by the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) at the University of Washington.

The study, "Global, regional, and national levels and causes of maternal mortality during 1990-2013: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2013," published May 2 in The Lancet, ranked the United States number 60 in the list of 180 countries on maternal deaths, compared to its rank of 22 in 1990, demonstrating how it has fallen behind globally. By contrast, China rose to number 57, up from number 116 in 1990.

In the US, 18.5 mothers died for every 100,000 live births in 2013, more than double the figures for maternal mortality in Saudi Arabia (7) and Canada (8.2), and more than triple that for the United Kingdom (6.1).

The biggest increase in maternal mortality by age group occurred in women 20-24. In 1990, 7.2 women in this age group died for every 100,000 live births and in 2013, 14 died for every 100,000 live births.

The study findings focus on measuring the trends in maternal mortality, but the researchers offer a range of possible explanations for the disparities between the US and other countries, including lack of access to prenatal care and other health services, high rates of caesarian section deliveries, and pregnancies complicated by obesity, diabetes, and other conditions.

"For American women, high-risk pregnancies and the number of women with inadequate access to preventive and maternal health care are just two potential causes of this trend," said study author Dr. Nicholas Kassebaum, Assistant Professor at IHME. "The good news is that most maternal deaths are preventable, and we can do better."

More:
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2014-05/ifhm-mdo050214.php

[Judi Lynn]

23. How the Right Wing is Killing Women

Published on Tuesday, May 13, 2014 by RobertReich.org

How the Right Wing is Killing Women

by Robert Reich

According to a report released last week in the widely-respected health research journal, The Lancet, the United States now ranks 60th out of 180 countries on maternal deaths occurring during pregnancy and childbirth.

To put it bluntly, for every 100,000 births in America last year, 18.5 women died. That’s compared to 8.2 women who died during pregnancy and birth in Canada, 6.1 in Britain, and only 2.4 in Iceland.

A woman giving birth in America is more than twice as likely to die as a woman in Saudi Arabia or China.

You might say international comparisons should be taken with a grain of salt because of difficulties of getting accurate measurements across nations. Maybe China hides the true extent of its maternal deaths. But Canada and Britain?

Even if you’re still skeptical, consider that our rate of maternal death is heading in the wrong direction. It’s risen over the past decade and is now nearly the highest in a quarter century.

More:
https://www.commondreams.org/view/2014/05/13-3

[Judi Lynn]

24. Report: US Ranks First in Terrible Treatment of New Mothers

Published on Wednesday, May 14, 2014 by Common Dreams

Report: US Ranks First in Terrible Treatment of New Mothers

UN survey looks at maternity and paternity practices in 185 nations

- Lauren McCauley, staff writer

The United States is the only Western country, and one of three in the world, that does not require some kind of paid maternity leave for new mothers, said a new United Nations study released Tuesday.

Published by the International Labour Organization, an agency of the UN, the study—Maternity and Paternity at Work: Law and Practice Across the World (pdf)—surveys national law and practice on both maternity and paternity at work in 185 countries and territories.

Among the findings, the ILO reports that the U.S., Oman and Papua New Guinea are the only three countries that fail to provide any "cash benefits paid during maternity leave."

According to maternity protection conventions adopted by the ILO, "the cash benefits paid during maternity leave should be at least two-thirds of a woman’s previous earnings (or a comparable amount if other methods are used to determine cash benefits) for a minimum of 14 weeks."

Globally, 45 percent of the countries studied meet all of these requirements. The report also notes that in 70 countries paid leave is also provided for fathers.

More:
https://www.commondreams.org/headline/2014/05/14-6