“What we know about those deaths is that most of them were absolutely preventable. They were from causes that we could have done something about. We could have prevented it if we had recognized the emergency early on.”
A trainer from the American Hospital Association, a trade association working to get hospitals to improve maternity care, told USA Today:
“We”re not talking about a third World country, we’re talking about us, here.”
USA Today’s investigative report found:
“Today, this is the most dangerous place in the developed world to give birth.”
If you find that statement shocking & surprising, check out the statistics cited about safety practices that are not being followed in instances that lead to severe injury or the death of the mother.
“Having the right doctors, having the right care, having the right people who know about your diagnosis, that understand your diagnosis, that know what they’re doing, it’s life or death.”
Alana Alvarez is speaking from her own experience. She reportedly almost bled to death after giving birth in 2015.
USA Today found that it is “nearly impossible” to find out ahead of time about the safety practices of maternity hospitals. Helen Haskell, president of Mothers Against Medical Error, would like to see that change:
“We’ve put a lot of credence in the idea of voluntary improvement.and it’s just not enough. You have to have transparency and you have to have regulation.”
USA Today, 7/27/18
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What states aren't doing to save new mothers' lives - The Good For You Network
April 22, 2021, 11:20 am[…] July, a USA TODAY investigation revealed that thousands of women in the U.S. suffer life-changing injuries or die during childbirth […]
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