Government Report: U.S. Women Dying in Childbirth at the Highest Rate in Decades

“U.S. women are dying from childbirth at the highest rate in decades, new government figures show. Though the risk of death is very small, experts believe increasing maternal obesity and a jump in Caesarean sections are partly to blame.

Some experts note that a change in how such deaths are reported also may be a factor.

“Those of us who look at this a lot say it’s probably a little bit of both,” said Dr. Jeffrey King, an obstetrician who led a recent New York state review of maternal deaths.

The U.S. maternal mortality rate rose to 13 deaths per 100,000 live births in 2004, according to statistics released this week by the National Center for Health Statistics.

The rate was 12 per 100,000 live births in 2003 — the first time the maternal death rate rose above 10 since 1977.

To be sure, death from childbirth remains fairly rare in the United States. The death of infants is much more common — the nation’s infant mortality rate was 679 per 100,000 live births in 2004.

Maternal deaths were a much more common tragedy long ago. Nearly one in every 100 live births resulted in a mother’s death as recently as 90 years ago.

Some health statisticians note the total number of maternal deaths — still fewer than 600 each year — is small. It is so small that 50 to 100 extra deaths could raise the rate, said Donna Hoyert, a health scientist with the National Center for Health Statistics.

In 2003, there was a change in death certificate questions in the nation’s most populous state, California, as well as Montana and Idaho. That may have resulted in more deaths being linked to childbirth — enough to push up the 2003 rate, Hoyert said.

Some researchers point to the rising C-section rate, now 29 percent of all births — far higher than what public health experts say is appropriate. Like other surgeries, Caesareans come with risks related to anesthesia, infections and blood clots.

“There’s an inherent risk to C-sections,” said Dr. Elliott Main, who co-chairs a panel reviewing obstetrics care in California. “As you do thousands and thousands of them, there’s going to be a price.”

Excessive bleeding is one of the leading causes of pregnancy-related death, and women with several previous C-sections are at especially high risk, according to a review of maternal deaths in New York. Blood vessel blockages and infections are among the other leading causes.

Experts also say obesity may be a factor. Heavier women are more prone to diabetes and other complications, and they may have excess tissue and larger babies that make a vaginal delivery more problematic. That can lead to more C-sections. “It becomes this sort of snowball effect,” said King.

The age of mothers could be a factor, too. More women are giving birth in their late 30s and 40s, when complications risks are greater.”

CDC final death report for 2004
A More in depth version of this same article at the Huffington Post: Go Here
Is anyone who has been following the childbirth scams of the past few years surprised by these statistics???
I’m not.
Jenny Hatch
People are talking about this article on the web:
Here are three conversations:
Digg
Mothering Magazine Discussion Forums
Denver Post
My Comment at the Post:
As a Bradley Childbirth Teacher and Mother of Five:
I have been watching the unfolding childbirth drama in America play out over the past 18 years.
It has been horrifying to watch so many gains from natural birth activism just melt away the past ten years as several different factors came into play. Soaring C-section and induction rates, increased drug use during pregnancy and labor, and systematic outlawing of home birth. This is a complex issue, but for me the bottom line questions are these:
With more mothers than ever getting prenatal care and more using allopathic (Drugs and surgery) infrastructure for birth, why is the maternal death rate going up? The preemie rate going up? The infant mortality rate going up? And why isn’t anyone in the press yelling about this travesty???
Articles like this do indeed link the c-section rate to the higher mother mortality rate. Yet, it feels like one big fat defense for Obstetricians.
The women are fat.
The women are old.
Lots of head scratching going on, “I dunno”.
Where are the real investigative journalists in our country, those who are willing to do an in depth story on Cytotec, a deadly drug used to induce labor??? The real story on Maternal Mortality and Morbidity??? The real story on the impact all of these drugs and surgery have on our children???
We are living in a land of Obstetric Terrorism and my message has been consistent to the mothers in my sphere of influence for the past ten years.
RUN FROM THE BIRTH MACHINE!
I’m tracking the debate on my blog: Go here to read the round up.
http://www.naturalfamilyblog.com/archives/cat_diy_homebirth_debate.html
I was not surprised by these numbers, and when the 2005, 2006, and 2007 numbers finally show up in a couple years, don’t be surprised to learn that EVERYTHING will have degraded even worse.
It is open season on Mothers in the delivery rooms of America.
Jenny Hatch, Birth Activist
WWW.NaturalFamilyBLOG.com
Louisville Colorado