Maternal mortality rates...

[fajrdrako]

Today I was looking at a list of the numbers of women who die in childbirth by country and I was surprised to see that the death rate of mothers in Canada was much less than in the U.S. - 6.6 deaths per 100,000 live births as contrasted 16.7 in the States.

I'm wondering why. And why is Italy doing much better than other countries, with a rate of only 3.1?

I looked up Maternal Mortality in Canada and that didn't illuminate much: the causes of death are about what I'd have expected. Presumably higher death rates occur when there is less preventative care, less access to emergency medicine, a shortage of doctors, or... what?

As for the statistics broken down by province, I see Yukon Territory and PEI have the highest maternal mortality numbers. I can see why the Yukon might be so - harsher conditions, very rural, greater difficulties in transportation and communication - but why PEI? It's a little place. It has doctors and hospitals... and a higher maternal death rate than the Yukon.

Looking at the full stats, I see Malta, Canada, Spain and Japan as being in the same grouping. But Canada's rate has actually gone up over the past decade or two, while those others have gone down. That's the Harper government for you: less social support, less medical support, less support in general.

In fact, Canada at #9 is the only country in the top ten of that list where the maternal mortality rate has gone up - in most of those other countries, it has gone down dramatically. The next country on the list where the mmr has risen is Switzerland, at #19.

Except for one, all the countries at the bottom of the list are in Africa. The exception is Afghanistan, at #181, where the maternal mortality rate is more than twice that of Somalia. Looking at the bottom part of the list makes me sad.

Comments

[metawidget]

PEI has no place in-province to get an abortion. Coincidence? Possibly. But maybe that fact makes dangerous pregnancies more likely to be ridden out into maternal morbidity and mortality.

To be fair, those numbers in PEI and the Yukon are based on 1-4 incidents each; one extra death in that thirteen-year period would move the average between 5 and 20 deaths per hundred thousand, much more than the difference between PEI and the Yukon, and likely enough far enough to move PEI or the Yukon several places in the rankings.

[fajrdrako]

To be fair, those numbers in PEI and the Yukon are based on 1-4 incidents each; one extra death in that thirteen-year period would move the average between 5 and 20 deaths per hundred thousand, much more than the difference between PEI and the Yukon

That's true - the statistics lose a bit of the theoretical aspect when you look at the absolute numbers for numbers of deaths.

[mmegaera]

Not to sound overly simplistic, but the difference between the U.S. and Canada is the relative access to health care.

There are 40 million uninsured people in the U.S., which means a lot of women not getting proper prenatal care because they can't afford it.

I won't get into the access or lack of it to abortions, but that's ugly in this country, too.

[fajrdrako]

There are 40 million uninsured people in the U.S., which means a lot of women not getting proper prenatal care because they can't afford it.

That is such a scary thought. Presumably these are not the people who oppose government-sponsored health care?

I won't get into the access or lack of it to abortions, but that's ugly in this country, too.

I've heard rumours about scary abortion laws in the States, but I don't know much about it. I do know that Prime Minister Harper is trying to reopen the issue here - to make abortions harder to get. I was at a protest on Parliament Hill last year about that very issue.

[mmegaera]

You'd be amazed how many people in the U.S. are against things that are for their best interests.

Access to abortion is strictly a state by state thing here, and some states have all but outlawed it. Some states, like the one I live in, are much more sensible and humane (but then we're also one of half a dozen states that allow gay marriage, and one of two that have legalized recreational marijuana -- not that either of those directly affect me since I'm straight and haven't smoked pot in thirty-odd years, but I'm still glad I live in Washington state).

[fajrdrako]

Washington sounds like a good place to be. I've only visited it once, and then only the Seattle area, but I loved it. It's one of the few places in the U.S. where I'd be willing to live.

[mmegaera]

Well, if you ever get back to this part of the world, let me know and we'll have to get together!

[fajrdrako]

I'd like that! I live in hope.

Well...

[ysabetwordsmith]

America has no guaranteed health care. For a lot of people that means ... no health care, or very little. People avoid things that are avoidable, like prenatal visits.

Then there's the fact that the health care system isn't very good at meeting a lot of people's needs, especially women. Doctors don't listen. They want their way; they want to deal with imaginary textbook bodies; if your needs are different, you're fucked. So again, people learn not to bother going.

This is sometimes fatal, the lack of coverage and care and money, the not listening, the not going. It's a clue that America is not so developed a nation as it pretends to be.

Re: Well...

[fajrdrako]

There are a lot of doctors here who don't listen. Or who don't listen well. Or who don't treat patients with much consideration or respect. I'm lucky to have some great doctors... most of the time.