What percentage of women in the U.S. die from complications during birth?
18776828#1
Every year, an estimated 342,900 women die from complications of pregnancy and childbirth, 99% of these deaths occur in developing countries. Worldwide, for every 100,000 live births, about 251 women die. In some industrialized countries such as the U.S, this is 13 deaths for every 100,000 live babies born with American women having a lifetime risk of 1 in 2,100 of dying from childbirth related complications. However, in some countries, such as Afghanistan up to 1,600 women die for every 100,000 live births and women have a 1 in 11 lifetime risk of maternal death.
Non-pneumatic anti-shock garment
54694072#10
In response to the high maternal mortality ratio, in 2013 the Department of State to created the Maternal Mortality and Morbidity Task Force. According to Amnesty International's 2010 report, five medical conditions collectively account for 74% of maternal deaths in the US.Postpartum depression is widely untreated and unrecognized, leading to suicide. Suicide is one of the most significant causes of maternal mortality, and reported to be the number one cause by many studies.
Maternal mortality in the United States
54545388#12
Nearly one in four African American women live below the poverty line which greatly increases the risks associated with bearing children . Black women are 2.5 times more likely to die during pregnancy and their children are 2 times more likely to die as infants . Many attempt to view this issue as a biological issue of African American women; however, black women residing in other countries have less reproductive complication than their American counterparts. Black women are less likely to be given medical advice, to be warned of possible medical complications and to receive helpful prenatal therapies . This differential treatment from medical health professional leads to more birth complications, adverse birth outcomes and fetal death thus contributing to the system of stratified reproduction .
Stratified reproduction
18958648#42
Obesity has also been shown to increase the prevalence of complications during pregnancy and childbirth. Babies born to obese women are almost three times as likely to die within one month of birth and almost twice as likely to be stillborn than babies born to women of normal weight.
Obesity in the United States
35230534#4
The World Health Organization (WHO) defines maternal health as the health of women during pregnancy, childbirth and the postpartum period. According to estimates from UNICEF, Uganda’s maternal mortality ratio, the annual number of deaths of women from pregnancy-related causes per 100,000 live births, stands at 435 after allowing for adjustments. Women die as a result of complications during and following pregnancy and childbirth and the major complications include severe bleeding, infections, unsafe abortion and obstructed labor.
Maternal health in Uganda
3277960#21
Controversy over the practice of UC has largely centered over whether it is, as claimed by proponents, a safe method of childbirth. Critics of UC, such as the Society of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists of Canada (SOGC), claim that unassisted childbirth is quite unsafe, and that those who engage in it are "courting danger". A spokesperson for the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists issued a one-word assessment of freebirth: "dangerous". The SOGC notes that more than 500,000 women worldwide die annually from complications during childbirth, and that even in developed countries, in which expectant mothers generally receive complete prenatal care, as many as 15% of all births involve potentially fatal complications. In poor countries in which there are conditions of malnutrition and taboos surrounding childbirth or there is a lack of qualified birth attendants, rates of maternal and infant mortality and complications such as fistula are much higher, with disparities in death rates from childbirth between developed and developing countries approaching two orders of magnitude. Critics also point out the high rates of complication and death arising from childbirth that existed before the development of modern medicine: between 10 and 15 deaths per 1000 births.
Unassisted childbirth
83449#58
The rising maternal death rate in the U.S. is of concern. In 1990 the U.S. ranked 12th of the 14 developed countries that were analyzed. However, since that time the rates of every country have steadily continued to improve while the U.S. rate has spiked dramatically. While every other developed nation of the 14 analyzed in 1990 shows a 2017 death rate of less than 10 deaths per every 100,000 live births, the U.S. rate has risen to 26.4. By comparison, the United Kingdom ranks second highest at 9.2 and Finland is the safest at 3.8. Furthermore, for every one of the 700 to 900 U.S. woman who die each year during pregnancy or childbirth, 70 experience significant complications such as hemorrhage and organ failure, totaling more than 1 percent of all births.
Childbirth
8053575#46
Since 2016, ProPublica and NPR investigated factors that led to the increase in maternal mortality in the United States. They reported that the "rate of life-threatening complications for new mothers in the U.S. has more than doubled in two decades due to pre-existing conditions, medical errors and unequal access to care." According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, c. 4 million women who give birth in the US annually, over 50,000 a year, experience "dangerous and even life-threatening complications." Of those 700 to 900 die every year "related to pregnancy and childbirth." A "pervasive problem" is the rapidly increasing rate of "severe maternal morbidity" (SMM), which does not yet have a "single, comprehensive definition".
Maternal health
27553159#65
A report released in April 2008 by the Foundation for Child Development, which studied the period from 1994 through 2006, found mixed results for the health of children in the U.S. Mortality rates for children ages 1 through 4 dropped by a third, and the percentage of children with elevated blood lead levels dropped by 84%. The percentage of mothers who smoked during pregnancy also declined. On the other hand, both obesity and the percentage of low-birth weight babies increased. The authors note that the increase in babies born with low birth weights can be attributed to women delaying childbearing and the increased use of fertility drugs.
Health care in the United States
354076#13
According to a 2004 WHO publication, sociodemographic factors such as age, access to resources and income level are significant indicators of maternal outcomes. Young mothers face higher risks of complications and death during pregnancy than older mothers, especially adolescents aged 15 years or younger. Adolescents have higher risks for postpartum hemorrhage, puerperal endometritis, operative vaginal delivery, episiotomy, low birth weight, preterm delivery, and small-for-gestational-age infants, all of which can lead to maternal death. The leading cause of death for girls at the age of 15 in developing countries is complication through pregnancy and childbirth. They have more pregnancies, on average, than women in developed countries and it has been shown that 1 in 180 fifteen year old girls in developing countries who become pregnant will die due to complications during pregnancy or childbirth. This is compared to women in developed countries, where the likelihood is 1 in 4900 live births. However, in the United States, as many women of older age continue to have children, trends have seen the maternal mortality rate to rise in some states, especially among women over 40 years old.
Maternal death
2159778#8
One of the international Sustainable Development Goals developed by United Nations is to improve maternal health by a targeted 70 deaths per 100,000 live births by 2030. Most models of maternal health encompass family planning, preconception, prenatal, and postnatal care. All care after childbirth recovery is typically excluded, which includes pre-menopause and aging into old age. During childbirth, women typically die from severe bleeding, infections, high blood pressure during pregnancy, delivery complications, or an unsafe abortion. Other reasons can be regional such as complications related to diseases such as malaria and AIDS during pregnancy. The younger the women is when she gives birth, the more at risk her and her baby is for complications and possibly mortality.
Reproductive health