The US has the highest maternal mortality rates of any industrialized country, and steadily climbing. American women are 3 times as likely to die during the maternal period as Canadian women. In the U.K., it’s so low that men are more likely to die while their partner’s pregnant.
And within the US there’s a huge racial divide. African American women are four times more likely to die from pregnancy and childbirth complications than white women. We don’t track this issue on a federal level, so it’s hard to definitively identify cause. But some obvs factors:
1. Lack of access to birth control doesn’t allow women to plan pregnancies, especially women with high-risk medical conditions. Half of pregnancies in the US are unplanned; this adds stress to domestic relationships and cause problems at work. Birth control is healthcare.
2. More and more women have health complications such as cardiovascular diseases that can cause issues during, and immediately after, pregnancy. Healthcare, from birth to death, needs to be a priority in this country. We are not well.
3. The US is the only industrialized nation that doesn’t guarantee paid leave for childbirth. Many American mothers don’t see their own physician until nearly six weeks after giving birth- most complications happen a lot sooner. Paid maternity leave is a healthcare issue.
4. Many American women are waiting longer to have kids, and complications increase for women over 40. We need access to birth control, and we also need access to motherhood for women who want it. This includes rethinking the workplace to support parents at all levels of income.
5. The US relies on C-sections more than other countries, which can lead to infection and hemorrhaging. A third of US births are by C-section. Insurance companies sometimes pay hospitals more for C-sections; even if it’s a flat fee, the C-section is faster and more efficient.
6. America doesn’t provide enough care and support for pregnant women leading up to, and during, their delivery. Midwifes and doulas can help lower the rate of C-sections, and fitness programs for expectant mothers could drastically reduce complications and recovery time.
7. America’s legislators don’t seem to care. At least two bipartisan bills aimed at standardizing state-level research and data collection regarding maternal mortality rates have been stuck in committee for over a year. Knowing more about the problem is the key to solving it.
America has a maternal mortality crisis because we do not make women’s health a priority. We do not treat all pregnant women equally. We do not encourage family planning. We do not promote overall health and well-being. And we discourage scientific efforts to study our failures.
Pro-life my ass.
