Woman in the US have the highest rate of childbirth related fatalities in the world

700 women die from medical complications related to child birth on average every year in the US. 60% of these fatalities are preventable. Maternal health was ranked the number two patient safety concern in the Top 10 Patient Safety Concern 2020 recently released by the ECRI Institute.

The CDC recently released alarming data related to the maternal mortality rate in the US. Non-Hispanic black women are 3 to 4 times more at risk of dying from child birth complications than non-Hispanic white women.  The rate of mortality also increases as women giving birth get older. Women who get pregnant after 40 year old are 7.7 times more at risk of dying from child birth complications than women under 25.

An increased number of mothers giving birth are on Medicaid and while some States have excellent birth and pregnancy protocols some don’t.  As a result many mothers are dying because the medical staff is incompetent and standards are missing. For example quantifying blood loss during and after every birth is a standard practice to prevent deadly postpartum hemorrhage however 40% of maternity hospitals in the US do not apply this standard according to a previous USA Today investigation. As a result mothers continue to die at an alarming rate because they are loosing too much blood after the birth of their children. Hemorrhages, cardiovascular conditions and infection are the cause of half of the maternal deaths in the US and most of them are preventable.

Women who have to give birth now are doing it in unprecedented circumstances. Visitors are banned and hospitals are suggesting elective inductions so mothers can give birth before hospitals convert labor and delivery wards to Corona virus units. Recently a woman  gave birth in a  Missouri Wallmart as 911 was too busy dealing with Coronavirus cases.