Guest Post from the Senior Midwife a.k.a. My Momma :)

The Predicted Rise In Maternal Mortality Rates Is Sadly Here

 

The Maternal Mortality rate was quietly rising back in 2007.  The widely published book Pushed said solid numbers were soon to come1.  I hate to tell you, but they're here.  In 2010 California reported the number of women dying from birth had tripled.   Florida and New York have since followed suit.2  

 

The context, the cover-up and the uncanny about these statistics:  

 

Context

 

Maternal mortality reported rates are 21 deaths per 10,000 births nation-wide. 3   This is double digit losses amid thousands of births.  The increase over a generation is single digit.  Likely, you will never personally experience the mountain of grief behind these cold facts.  

 

Heart-numbing context aside, two things should be keeping Americans up at night:

1. Any preventable death is unconscionable. 

2. The number of dying mothers should be going down!

Cover Up

 

New York, California and Florida are likely the only regions conveying the truth.  The serious situation in other areas is lost to inconsistent data collection. Maternal mortality reporting in the US is so poor that  Amnesty International called it a human rights violation in 2010.

 

Uncanny

 

This very same scenario has unfolded before.  In 1918 a strange piece of news surfaced.  Counties were seeing scattered increases in maternal mortality rates.4 This trend spread over the next two years.  It was not until 1932 that a national level hearing was convened to determine the cause!! 5

 

Sadly, we have repeated our mistakes.  Digging back, we find the earliest rumblings of mounting risks to modern birthing woman.  They were heard back in 19946.  The rescue is way overdue!

 

Notes:

1. Pushed by Jennifer Block, 2007 Da Capo Press. Page 119

2. Birth Matters by Ina May Gaskin, 2011 Seven Stories Press. Page 126

3. http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SH.STA.MMRT retrieved 10/18/13

4. Lying-in: A History of Childbirth in America by Richard W. Wertz, 1989 Yale University Press Page 155

5. Lying-in “  Page 161

6. Birth Matters by Ina May Gaskin, 2011 Seven Stories Press. Page 126

 

 

Next posts in the series:

Your Safe Haven In The Midst Of the Storm

Could a Maternity Solution Birth a Cure for Our Nation’s Healthcare?