Most poorer countries have seen major drops in maternal mortality since 2000. While wealthy countries are generally seeing a flatlining or slight increasing trend, the rate has nearly doubled in the US. Acutely, (ie the medical issue not social causes) what is causing this to happen? What illnesses are pregnant women now getting more frequently? Why were we able to avoid these in a time (2000) where information sharing and technological capabilities were much worse? Don’t we have a good grasp on the general process of pregnancy and childbirth and the usual issues that emerge?
It seems as if the rise of technology in medicine, increasing volume of research on the matter, and the general treatment level of US hospitals would decrease or at the very least keep the rate the same. How is it that the medical knowledge and treatment regimens have deteriorated to such an extent? Are the complications linked to obesity?
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Covid hit in March of 2020 and it took out a lot of pregnant women. States like mine (which has one of the worst maternal mortality rates in the country) didn’t expand medicaid, so we had 11 rural hospitals close in the state. Just last month, one closed down their maternity ward because they weren’t getting reimbursed more by medicaid and couldn’t afford to deliver any more babies.
It is a social issue, not a medical one.
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