In the previous post I discussed a new report that found that
pregnancy and childbirth deaths have doubled in USA. But why are so many women dying? According to the World Health Organization (WHO), globally, women die from a wide range of complications in pregnancy, childbirth or the postpartum period, such as...
- Complications develop because of their pregnant status or because pregnancy aggravated an existing disease.
- The four major killers are: severe bleeding (mostly bleeding postpartum), infections (also mostly soon after delivery), hypertensive disorders in pregnancy (eclampsia) and obstructed labour.
- Additionally, complications after unsafe abortion cause 13% of maternal deaths.
Globally, about 80% of maternal deaths are due the above causes. WHO also points out that there are some indirect causes (20%) of maternal death from diseases that complicate pregnancy or that are aggravated by pregnancy, such as malaria, anemia and HIV or that women die because of poor health at conception and a lack of adequate health care. Amnesty International states in their report “
Deadly Delivery: The Maternal Health Care Crisis in the USA,” that women in the United States are more likely to die in pregnancy or childbirth than in 40 other countries and it's because of issues such as accessibility, affordability and lack of oversight in maternal health matters. If Sadly the report also shows that simply being a minority can kill you. For example, African-American women are nearly four times more likely to die of pregnancy-related complications than white women. Why women are dying at such high rates in the United States is almost a moot point though; in this country, a country that spends more on health care than any other country in the world, we should be able to guarantee every single woman the right to a safe childbirth. I know this is a depressing topic, but it's also an important one. Coming up we'll look at some things you can do to help ensure that you do have a healthy pregnancy and that you do receive the heath care you need while pregnant.
