The Struggle to Maintain Maternal Health in the U.S.

Maternal health and medicine has advanced significantly over the years and global trends have shown that maternal deaths, defined as deaths due to complications from pregnancy or childbirth, continue to decrease. However, the U.S. is defying all odds: it is still one of the leading countries with a high maternal mortality rate, and the rate continues to increase. Multiple studies and analyses have shown that maternal mortality rates have increased overall, but especially for non-Hispanic black women. The U.S., one of many leading innovators in medicine, science, and technology, is still struggling to help women with their health and the question is, why? Furthermore, how can we move forward to help alleviate this social problem?

Experts have explored several reasons that might attribute to the high mortality rate in the U.S. First, researchers have hypothesized that the obesity epidemic may heavily contribute to maternal deaths. Obesity is linked with cardiovascular disease and diabetes that exponentially complicate pregnancy and childbirth. The lack of access to nutritional food and healthcare coupled with chronic stress could explain the increased risk of maternal death, especially those seen in communities of color. Second, researchers contributed the maternal mortality rate to the increase in age (45 years or older) that women became pregnant. However, they found that there was an increase in death rates among all age groups. Finally, people think the U.S. has a high rate of maternal deaths due to the fact that that there are more minorities and more economically disadvantaged people. Nevertheless, studies have shown that if the analysis was limited to white women, the U.S. still ranks behind other developed nations.  Despite the multifaceted complexities that are involved, the United States should invest resources into researching an issue that directly affects half of the population and to provide services that help women navigate their health and quality of life.

Women’s bodies, and thus their reproductive rights, is heavily regulated politically, legally, and morally. Everyone has a right to their opinions and beliefs; however, as we all have learned at Regis, we need to have a care for the whole person and to think about what we ought to do. This is an important topic for me to explore because I hope to have the opportunity to work with women in underrepresented communities, most notably women of color and women in rural communities, who historically have not had access to quality healthcare.  The challenges women face trying to obtain quality healthcare, especially regarding their reproductive health, is an ugly reality. It is our duty as future health care professionals and scientists to advocate for our patients and to explore new ways to improve their quality of life.

References:

Howard, Jacqueline. “Childbirth is Killing Black Women, and Here’s Why.” CNN, Cable News Network, 15 Nov. 2017, http://www.cnn.com/2017/11/15/health/black-women-maternal-mortality/index.html.

Tavernise, Sabrina. “Maternal Mortality Rate in U.S. Rises, Defying Global Trend, Study Finds.” The New York Times, 21 Sept. 2016, https://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/22/health/maternal-mortality.html.