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Noon Edition

Rising Maternal Mortality In The US

Maternal mortality rates in the US have doubled since the start of the millennium. (Pixabay)

Noon Edition airs on Fridays at noon on WFIU.

Not only does United States have the highest level of maternal mortality in the developed world, but it is the only developed country where the number of women dying in childbirth is on the rise.

While other developed nations have seen their maternal mortality rates fall in the past two decades, the rate in the U.S. has skyrocketed.

At the start of the 2000s, the maternal mortality rate was just under 10 maternal deaths for every 100,000 births in the United States. By 2014, that number doubled to 21.5 maternal deaths per 100,000 births.

And in Indiana, 43.6 Hoosier mothers die in childbirth for every 100,000 births, according to a USA Today analysis of Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data from 2012 to 2016.

On this week’s Noon Edition, we discuss the surge in maternal mortality and how it can occur in the richest country in the world.

Guests

Georg'Ann Cattelona, Maternal Child Health Advocate

Jessie Uchytil, Certified Doula, Breastfeeding and Birth Educator with Crowning Achievement Birth Services

Laura McCloskey, Director of Indiana University's Center for Research on Health Disparities and Professor of Applied Health Science

Dr. Mary Abernathy, OBGYN and chair of the state's Maternal Mortality Review Committee

Conversation on Rising Maternal Mortality

Laura McCloskey says that the United States faces an unusual challenge in tackling maternal mortality, and many other health issues, because individual states have different policies.

"The United States is almost like 50 different countries," McCloskey says. "Each state and their governing policies can influence health outcomes in a number of spheres and you see big state differences."

Georg'Ann Cattelona thinks there's a misconception that maternal deaths mostly take place in a hospital setting.

"The image we have is of a dramatic event that occurs in the hospital during the birth or in the immediate postpartum when she's there. And, in fact, greater than 80 percent of these deaths are occurring outside of the hospital setting," Cattelona says. "That says to me that there are issues with prenatal care and how we're monitoring and supporting pregnant women, but also really importantly, how we're supporting postpartum women."

Dr. Mary Abernathy chairs the newly formed Maternal Mortality Review Committee for the state of Indiana.

"From the CDC, about 50 to 60 percent of the maternal deaths are preventable," Abernathy says. "Our goal and our hope is that we can identify those things that are common, that are preventable, and then work through the different hospitals, the different birthing centers, to try to decrease future maternal mortalities, or significantly reduce or rates."

Jessie Uchytil teaches mothers how to talk to doctors to make sure their concerns are heard.

"A lot of moms feel like they don’t want to approach a professional and question them and they don’t want to feel like they’re undermining the person that’s caring for them," Uchytil says.

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