Every 90 seconds a woman dies giving birth.
Mother’s Day is Sunday, May 8. Here at Amnesty, we’re honoring mothers by fighting for maternal health — sending Mother’s Day action cards to U.S. and international decision-makers, hosting events and more (sign up here).
We’re also launching a one-year update to our groundbreaking report, Deadly Delivery: The Maternal Health Care Crisis in the USA. From that update, here are 14 numbers you need to know:
49: The number of countries that have lower maternal mortality ratios than the US. Women in the US are more likely to die of pregnancy related complications than in 49 other countries, including nearly all European countries, Canada and several countries in Asia and the Middle East.
4 million: The number of women who give birth each year in the US. Childbirth related care is the most common reason for hospitalization in the US.
$98 billion: The total amount spent in the US each year on hospital bills related to childbirth. The average health care provider fees for maternal care are twice as high as any other country.
3 to 4x: African-American women are 3 to 4 times as likely to die from pregnancy-related causes as white women.
60: The number of years that the disparity between African-American women and white women has not improved.
4x: The maternal mortality ratio for American Indian/Alaska Native women was 4 times higher than the Healthy People 2010 goal (the national target set by the government).
8x: For African American women, the maternal mortality ratio was 8 times higher than the Healthy People 2010 goal.
2x: Women living in low-income areas across the US were 2 times as likely to suffer a maternal death as women in high income areas.
50: The number of women in the US suffering a “near miss” (a pregnancy complication so severe the woman nearly dies) for each woman who dies.
34,000: The total number of women each year who suffer a “near miss” – one every 15 minutes.
33%: The percentage of US births that are by cesarean section. The cesarean rate has risen for 13 consecutive years to reach this all-time high in 2009. The cesarean rate is now more than double the WHO recommended range of 5-15%.
21%: In states with cesarean rates higher than 33%, the risk of maternal death is 21% higher than in states with cesarean rates lower than 33%.
29+1: The number of states – plus the District of Columbia – that have no maternal mortality review system in place to ensure that all deaths are analyzed to prevent the same problems from occurring in the future.
1,000: The number of women around the world who die every day from complications of pregnancy and childbirth. That’s over 350,000 women every year – one woman every 90 seconds. The vast majority of these deaths are preventable.
This Mother’s Day, let’s change these numbers for the better. Register to write cards and take action to improve access to good quality care for all women.
So glad this information is coming out more to raise awareness about maternity care in the USA. Thank you for the numbers, and efforts in getting this info.
So glad this information is coming out more to raise awareness about maternity care in the USA. Thank you for the numbers, and efforts in getting this info.
I love this article but I wish you softened the scary stuff just a little by sharing a few tidbits that could help prevent a woman from becoming one of these statistics.
A few very important things to add:
Socioeconomic status tends to related to poor maternal outcomes because of poorer nutrition, lack of prenatal care, and lack of education about choices available in pregnancy and birth.
Treating a pregnancy as a naturally occurring process, instead of a medical problem in need of intervention, can help prevent many of the problems you've listed. Going to a midwife can help this.
The less the natural process of pregnancy and birth are interfered with, the more likely there will be no complications. Evidence shows that the more you add medicine, machines, and hospitals, the more problems will arise. (This is in normal, uncomplicated pregnancies—obviously there are appropriate times for medical intervention.)
Sadly, many women do not realize that they become qualified for state health insurance programs when they become pregnant, and they therefore choose to not get care because they can't afford it. There needs to be outreach to those who are unaware that there is help for them.
I love the message of your post, and stand behind you one million percent! Just be careful what you post about pregnancy related stuff like this, because these numbers by themselves can be very terrifying to a woman who is newly discovering her own pregnancy and feels pregnancy is a high risk condition already. America seriously is in a maternal care crisis right now, but there is always hope, especially when the newly pregnant woman is educated about pregnancy and birth!
Angela,
I appreciate your concern for women who are newly pregnant being scared, however, education alone will not help women who are unable to provide the nutrition, pay for doctors, prenatal care, prenatal vitamins, health insurance or have access to the kind of education needed. We need to be aware of the fact that there are marginalized and oppressed populations that don't have equal access to care, education, employment, time off from jobs to visit a doctor, insurance, or insurance that pays enough to the doctor for them to spend the time laboring with a woman to avoid C-sections. These statistics should scare people so that we are moved to do something as a collective.
Actually, I've heard that in terms of percentages, more C-sections are performed near meal-times or shift changes in doctors. I'll let you guess why.
I love this article but I wish you softened the scary stuff just a little by sharing a few tidbits that could help prevent a woman from becoming one of these statistics.
A few very important things to add:
Socioeconomic status tends to related to poor maternal outcomes because of poorer nutrition, lack of prenatal care, and lack of education about choices available in pregnancy and birth.
Treating a pregnancy as a naturally occurring process, instead of a medical problem in need of intervention, can help prevent many of the problems you’ve listed. Going to a midwife can help this.
The less the natural process of pregnancy and birth are interfered with, the more likely there will be no complications. Evidence shows that the more you add medicine, machines, and hospitals, the more problems will arise. (This is in normal, uncomplicated pregnancies—obviously there are appropriate times for medical intervention.)
Sadly, many women do not realize that they become qualified for state health insurance programs when they become pregnant, and they therefore choose to not get care because they can’t afford it. There needs to be outreach to those who are unaware that there is help for them.
I love the message of your post, and stand behind you one million percent! Just be careful what you post about pregnancy related stuff like this, because these numbers by themselves can be very terrifying to a woman who is newly discovering her own pregnancy and feels pregnancy is a high risk condition already. America seriously is in a maternal care crisis right now, but there is always hope, especially when the newly pregnant woman is educated about pregnancy and birth!
Angela,
I appreciate your concern for women who are newly pregnant being scared, however, education alone will not help women who are unable to provide the nutrition, pay for doctors, prenatal care, prenatal vitamins, health insurance or have access to the kind of education needed. We need to be aware of the fact that there are marginalized and oppressed populations that don’t have equal access to care, education, employment, time off from jobs to visit a doctor, insurance, or insurance that pays enough to the doctor for them to spend the time laboring with a woman to avoid C-sections. These statistics should scare people so that we are moved to do something as a collective.
Actually, I’ve heard that in terms of percentages, more C-sections are performed near meal-times or shift changes in doctors. I’ll let you guess why.
So glad for the record, wish that my country will publish such information to raise awareness about maternity care in Nigeria . Thank you for the numbers, and efforts in getting this info in US.
So glad for the record, wish that my country will publish such information to raise awareness about maternity care in Nigeria . Thank you for the numbers, and efforts in getting this info in US.
The U.S. maternal care is in a big crisis. Crisis for women, who need to give birth safely and in a way that prevents from harms for mother and child. "If you like to have a human birth, please stay out of hospital" one of WHO heads said. Quotation from the film "The Business Of Being Born" about maternal care in north america. (film is in english)
link to the film in my blog http://hausgeburten.blogspot.com/2011/04/film-bus…
A natural birth movement hopes to stop this from our sight wrong way. Join our movement and sign up on facebook "natürliche geburt"
take care, chr
The U.S. maternal care is in a big crisis. Crisis for women, who need to give birth safely and in a way that prevents from harms for mother and child. "If you like to have a human birth, please stay out of hospital" one of WHO heads said. Quotation from the film "The Business Of Being Born" about maternal care in north america. (film is in english)
link to the film in my blog http://hausgeburten.blogspot.com/2011/04/film-bus…
A natural birth movement hopes to stop this from our sight wrong way. Join our movement and sign up on facebook "natürliche geburt"
take care, chr
The U.S. maternal care is in a big crisis. Crisis for women, who need to give birth safely and in a way that prevents from harms for mother and child. "If you like to have a human birth, please stay out of hospital" one of WHO heads said. Quotation from the film "The Business Of Being Born" about maternal care in north america. (film is in english)
link to the film in my blog http://hausgeburten.blogspot.com/2011/04/film-bus…
A natural birth movement hopes to stop this from our sight wrong way. Join our movement and sign up on facebook "natürliche geburt"
take care, chr
The U.S. maternal care is in a big crisis. Crisis for women, who need to give birth safely and in a way that prevents from harms for mother and child. “If you like to have a human birth, please stay out of hospital” one of WHO heads said. Quotation from the film “The Business Of Being Born” about maternal care in north america. (film is in english)
link to the film in my blog
http://hausgeburten.blogspot.com/2011/04/film-business-of-being-born.html
A natural birth movement hopes to stop this from our sight wrong way. Join our movement and sign up on facebook “natürliche geburt”
take care, chr
Stay out of the hospital, see a midwife that is not fearful of birth, eat real food not convenience food and get educated re birth and options. Don't take it for granted that the docs and Hosp know much about NORMAL birth because they don't.
Stay out of the hospital, see a midwife that is not fearful of birth, eat real food not convenience food and get educated re birth and options. Don’t take it for granted that the docs and Hosp know much about NORMAL birth because they don’t.
Very comprehensive guide! Your post is very great to read and bring good information to me. Thanks for sharing!