A new report released today by Amnesty International has found that Florida is 41st among all states in maternal mortality ranking, with 13.1 deaths per 100,000 live births. The report revealed flaws and shocking disparities in maternal health care that the government is ignoring leading to two to three women dying daily in the United States from pregnancy-related complications, with half of these deaths believed preventable.
The report, entitled Deadly Delivery: The Maternal Health Care Crisis in the USA, also reveals that severe pregnancy-related complications that nearly cause death — known as “near misses” — are rising at an alarming rate, increasing by 25 percent since 1998; currently nearly 34,000 women annually experience a “near miss” during delivery. With a lifetime risk of maternal deaths that is greater than in 40 other countries, including virtually all of the industrialized countries, the United States has failed to reverse the two-decade upward trend in preventable maternal deaths, despite pledges to do so.
The report cited numerous causes for the crisis and offers lengthy recommendations on improving maternal health care. Inadequate prenatal care is cited as a contributing factor in the crisis; women who do not get prenatal care are three to four times more likely to die than women who do.
In Florida, one in six women (16.1 percent) receives delayed or no prenatal care. The number rises to one in five women (21.2 percent) among women of color.
The report found that obstacles to care are widespread: the most obvious being that across the United States nearly 13 million women of reproductive age (15 to 44), or one in five, have no health insurance.
In Florida more than one in five women (23.6 percent) is uninsured; among women of color the number of uninsured climbs to 33.4 percent, or one in three. The state’s Medicaid eligibility level for working parents is also very low, $9,672. Lack of access to health care centers and providers is a problem nationwide, the report found; in Florida 51 percent of women live in medically underserved areas.
“No issue can be more central to the health and well-being of our nation than maternal health care,” said Jared Feuer, Southern Regional Director for Amnesty International USA, in a released statement. “The government should accept its duty and its moral obligation to address this inexcusable crisis by developing a comprehensive plan to ensure quality health care for all pregnant women. If the federal government can address steroid use in baseball, certainly lawmakers can address maternal health, which affects every family in the United States.”
Amnesty International, the Nobel Peace Prize-winning grassroots activist organization, said that maternal health is a human right for every woman in the U.S., regardless of race or income, yet, a systematic, robust government response was lacking to this problem. The organization has urged President Obama to establish a single office responsible for ensuring that all women receive quality maternal health care, it the belief that dedicated action would help reduce the soaring pregnancy-related complications and maternal deaths nationwide.
The organization also calls for vigorous enforcement of federal non-discrimination laws and an increase for Federally Qualified Health Centers by 2011 to expand the number of women who can access affordable maternal health care.
According to Amnesty International, the current health care reform before Congress does nothing to address the crisis of maternal health care, given that the proposal will still leave millions without access to affordable care.
The report found numerous systemic failures including burdensome bureaucratic procedures in Medicaid enrollment which substantially delays access to vital prenatal care for pregnant women seeking government-funded care; an understatement of the number of deaths given the lack of federal requirements to report maternal deaths or complications; and lack of oversight and accountability more generally.
Source: amnesty.com
I have run a busy outreach prenatal care clinic in Winter Garden for many years. The Birth Place/ Commonsense Childbirth Inc. on East Plant St. is my own non-profit birthing center which has rapidly expanded due to the growing numbers of uninsured and underinsured women who find themselves pregnant with nowhere else to turn. We developed a ‘safety-net’ system of care which has been so successful we have virtually eliminated the racial and social disparities that have contributed to the poor health outcomes of women and babies in this area. What are we doing? We are listening, educating, sharing, supporting. We do not turn anybody away. Our vision is simply that every mother and every baby attains the best possible health. Despite our desperate lack of funds for this program our outcomes speak for themselves. http://www.commonsensechildbirth.org/outcomes
Amnesty International has highlighted the dire state of maternity care for poor and minority women in the USA. This has become a human rights issue. Florida ranks 41st amongst the states – how much longer shall we wait? How low shall we go?
Jennie Joseph LM, CPM
Midwife/ Executive Director