Thursday, June 9, 2011

Pieces of a U.S. Maternal Health Plan Take Shape

The United States is tied with Saudi Arabia in maternal mortality, according to the U.N. data, with both sharing the rank of having the 50th highest maternal mortality rates globally, meaning 49 other countries have better statistics. (Wow, seriously!?)

A bill in Congress would help states research why so many U.S. women die in pregnancy and childbirth. And that data could make health reform more responsive to a worsening problem, a leading health activist says.
Tuesday, June 7, 2011
"States that have higher than the national average C-section rate, which is now 33 percent, have a 21 percent higher risk of maternal mortality," Strauss says.

Read the full story here:
http://www.womensenews.org/story/reproductive-health/110606/pieces-us-maternal-health-plan-take-shape?page=0,0


In 2009, the Pregnancy-Associated Mortality Review (PAMR) committee reviewed 41 pregnancy-associated deaths and identified 33 (80%) deaths as pregnancy-related.  Between 1999 and 2008, the pregnancy-related mortality ratio fluctuated from 20.3 deaths per 100,000 live births in 1999 to a high of 22.9 in 2004 and a low of 13.3 in 2005.  In 2007 and 2008, the ratios were 15.1 and 14.3 deaths per 100,000 live births, respectively (Figure 1).  The slight downward trend from 1999 to 2008 is not statistically significant. (http://www.doh.state.fl.us/Family/mch/pamr/2008_pamr_update.pdf)


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