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Writer's pictureAaryaman Sawhney

U.S. and the Rise of Maternal Mortality

Updated: Jul 1, 2021



The US per capita spending on healthcare is $10,586 and is twice that of Germany, Sweden or Canada. Compare that with this fact – there are 17.4 deaths for every 100,000 pregnant women in the US, also known as the Maternal Mortality Ratio (MMR). That is more than twice that of Sweden, Germany or Canada and is steadily increasing. A shocking contrast indeed and a question to ponder, why is the most developed economy failing miserably on a very important indicator of a country’s health performance – the health of our pregnant women. 


To make matters worse, there exists a wide racial and ethnic disparity in the women: Black women are of pregnancy related causes than white women . There are various factors contributing to such high mortality rates  ranging from hemorrhage, cardiomyopathy, embolism, preclampsia, hypertension to infections.


The U.S. is one of just two countries without a mandatory paid maternity leave policy, the other being Papua New Guinea. With federal government being the largest employer with roughly $2 million employees, making this a national priority, is the right signal on prioritization. A new legislation would not only allow reduced stress for new mothers including postpartum depression, it would also improve infant care and allow the government and private sector to jointly own this societal responsibility of creating a healthy nation.

Another key step in improving maternal mortality is instituting state and local maternal mortality review committees (MMRC). These committees ensure comprehensive assessment of every case and help focus the outcomes on series of actions that result in prevention. In a report from nine MMRCs, it was found that 60% of pregnancy related deaths were preventable. Hence, it requires a holistic understanding of various factors related to community, health, patient, provider and system.

The death of a mother has a devastating impact on the child, family and society as a whole. It is high time we stop looking at the death of a mother as a mere statistical unit and take a radically different approach to making pregnancy as a national level health indicator.  Treating every pregnancy as a key performance indicator (KPI) of the nation's success should be our mantra to keep mothers safe and healthy.


Sources:


REPORT from Nine maternal Mortality review committees. (n.d.). Retrieved February 19, 2021, from https://www.cdcfoundation.org/sites/default/files/files/ReportfromNineMMRCs.pdf


“First Data Released on Maternal Mortality in Over a Decade.” 30 Jan. 2020, www.cdc.gov/nchs/pressroom/nchs_press_releases/2020/202001_MMR.htm.

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