There are endless exciting aspects of bringing a new child into the world, and with today’s advancements in medicine, expecting mothers also have less to worry about in regards to delivery procedures. Every pregnancy in North Carolina naturally consists of risks, but most could agree that there are less delivery worries to stall upon than ever before. However, recent data shows that there is still a great deal of birthing complications across the United States — even more so than in other developed countries. This unsettling information has been a shock to many, and can leave behind more questions than answers.
In October of this year, Quartz magazine revealed the sobering statistic that, for every 100,000 live births in 2015, there were an estimated 24.6 deaths. This data places the U.S. as the country with the highest maternal mortality rate of all developed countries — topping countries such as Iran and China. And while specific reasons for these deaths are complex, Quartz also points out that one contributing factor could be the lack of serious concern toward expecting mothers in general. Societal attitudes toward personal responsibility could also be to blame; many accuse expecting mothers for having poor life choices that result in obesity and other health issues. Another possible reason that Quartz highlights is the priority of babies over their mothers.
Experts in a Slate article also appear to see the problems in hospitals and their prioritizing of patients. As technology advances, the article makes clear that it will likely never be able to put a complete halt to all pregnancy related issues such as maternal mortality. Instead, poverty and access to health care are two major reasons why the mortality rate among American mothers is so high. In the absence of Obamacare, these bleak numbers could continue to rise. There may be no clear answer to this unfortunate dilemma, but experts also claim that procedures such as early abortion and close medical monitoring throughout a pregnancy are two tactics that have saved lives in the past.