"The United States is the only advanced economy in the world
with a rising maternal mortality rate. Deaths related to childbirth in the United
States are nearing the highest rate in a quarter-century. An estimated 18.5
mothers died for every 100,000 births in 2013, compared with 7.2 per 100,000 in
1987. This means a woman giving birth here is twice as likely to die than in
Saudi Arabia and three times as likely than in the United Kingdom.
The problem is particularly acute in the South. For
instance, Mississippi’s maternal mortality rate, one of the highest in the
country, has been climbing for more than a decade. From 2010 to 2012, the last
measure, an average of nearly 40 women died for every 100,000 births. Risk
varied drastically by race: The rate for black women, 54.7, was much higher
than the rate for white women, 29.3...
The cost of care for pregnant women, meanwhile, has sharply
risen. The average cost of delivery here has nearly tripled since 1996,
according to a Truven Health Analytics analysis for the New York Times.
Maternal and newborn care make up the largest category of hospital payouts for
most insurers and state Medicaid programs. Our country's approximate four
million annual births cost more than $50 billion.
Despite heavy spending, the United States was one of just
eight countries to see a rise in maternal mortality over the past decade,
ranking 60 for pregnancy-related deaths on a list of 180 countries, according
to research last year from the University of Washington’s Institute for Health
Metrics and Evaluation. Other countries that also saw a rise in maternal
mortality included Afghanistan, Greece, El Salvador and South Sudan."
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