Health department medical detectives find 84% of U.S. maternal deaths are preventable

[WhiskeyGrinder]

https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2022/10/21/1129115162/maternal-mortality-childbirth-deaths-prevention

These maternal mortality review committees look for clues to what contributed to the deaths — unfilled prescriptions, missed postnatal appointments, signs of trouble that doctors overlooked — to figure out how many of them could have been prevented and how.

The committees are at work in almost 40 states in the U.S. and in the latest and largest compilation of such data, released in September by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, a staggering 84% of pregnancy-related deaths were deemed preventable.

Even more striking to nurse-detectives like Sheffield-Abdullah, is that 53% of the deaths occurred well after women left the hospital, between seven days and a year after delivery.

"We are so baby focused," she says. "Once the baby is here, it's almost like the mother is discarded. Like a Reese's Peanut Butter Cup. The mom is the wrapper, and the baby is the candy. Once you remove the wrapper, you just discard the wrapper. And what we really need to be thinking about is that fourth trimester, that time after the baby is born."

[ck4829]

1. This is not acceptable. This needs to be addressed and no excuses from politicians, healthcare CEOs

[Diamond_Dog]

6. Mikey DeWine thinks

Tax free diapers are the solution

[chowder66]

2. Unacceptable! It makes one wonder about what other deaths are preventable.

I read somewhere that women are less likely to be listened to.

[niyad]

4. Think about how over 50% of all hysterectomies and c-sections are unnecessary.

Think about the fact that we have one of the worst maternal mortality rates amoung the advanced nations. Think about the fact that heart attacks kill more women than breast cancer, because symptoms present differently in women, and many doctors have no clue.

Read the threads on the clitoris here on DU a few days ago. And, "Nurses, Witches, and Midwives" by Barbara Ehrenreich and Deirdre English.

Quite frankly, it is a wonder that more women do not die at the hands of the male-centric, woman-hating medical profession.

[chowder66]

7. +1

[Wicked Blue]

12. +1 nt

[Wounded Bear]

3. Not surprising when healthcare is a for-profit, cash and carry industry...

Those who can't afford healthcare set the standard.

[area51]

8. +1 n/t

[Diamond_Dog]

5. Thank you WhiskeyGrinder

I had posted this in Womens Rights and issues a few days ago and I don’t think many people saw it.

Adding my two cents, the states with the worst maternal mortality rate are the ones who jumped to ban all abortions once Roe was overturned. Why does the right wing hate women so much? I am so sick and tired of seeing our nation’s women being treated like vessels. No dignity, no humanity.

[Lonestarblue]

9. The maternal death rate is much higher among black women and the right wing is okay with that.

Refusal to expand Medicaid in some states also denies healthcare to many poor women, black and white. We need Medicare for all to get rid of this nonsense of giving Republican states the right to deny healthcare to poor people,

[electron_blue]

10. You ask why? The answer is patriarchy, male supremacy.....

This is a consequence of (white) men holding and holding onto most of the power in this country

[niyad]

16. Thank you for posting it there. I had missed it myself. Scary information.

[Warpy]

11. "We are so baby focused," she says. "Once the baby is here, it's almost like the mother is discarded

I saw that in nursing school and it turned me off ever wanting to work there.

I also saw it with friends, the legions would arrive to coo over the baby and nobody would ask the mom how she was doing, if she needed anything (like a shower!) and to hell with people who shamed her over still having baby weight a week after the kid was born.

So I'm not a bit surprised by having over 50% of maternal deaths happening after the kid is born.

Remember the hullabaloo from prissy people a few years ago over a company marketing a post partum kit "because it shouldn't be this hard?" Nobody wants to know Mom's hurting, that she didn't snap back to being a virgin immediately after childbirth, she should be glowing, ferkirssakes, and it's all her fault if she's not, nobody wants to hear about her pain.

[Diamond_Dog]

15. Yep. So true.

Totally agree that new moms need to be seen by a doctor much sooner than the traditional six weeks postpartum. That six week appointment is basically so the doc can tell the woman go right ahead you can start having sex again. When she’s still bleeding in some cases, healing from stitches, in pain, etc. Yeah.

[Oldtimeralso]

13. Is the GOP really pro-life

Or just pro-birth?

[niyad]

17. pro-FORCED-birth.

[Hermit-The-Prog]

18. We are a barbaric, shithole country in need of civilizing.

Roe, Roe, Roe your vote
against theocracy!
Republicans revoke your rights
and kill democracy!

THESE are the races that will determine control of the House of Representatives:
https://www.democraticunderground.com/100217272559

Got post-its?
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