The U.S. Is One Of The Only Countries In The World Where Maternal Deaths Are Rising

Deaths related to pregnancy and childbearing have increased in the United States over the past decade, putting maternal mortality at nearly its highest rate in a quarter century, according to a new study published in the Lancet. The U.S. is one of just eight countrieswhere maternal deaths increased between 2003 and 2013; the other nations in this dubious category include Afghanistan, El Salvador, Belize, and South Sudan.

Ina May Gaskin on Rising U.S. Maternal Mortality Rate, Midwifery and Home Births

As the controversy over women’s access to contraception continues, we look at women’s access to safe, affordable and comfortable birthing options. Pioneering midwife Ina May Gaskin is the founder and director of the Farm Midwifery Center in Tennessee. Last year, she won a Right Livelihood Award "for her whole-life’s work teaching and advocating safe, woman-centered childbirth methods that best promote the physical and mental health of mother and child." She is the author of "Ina May’s Guide to Childbirth" and, most recently, "Birth Matters: A Midwife’s Manifesta." "Insurance has incredible power now, power that it didn’t have 70 years ago. It’s the reason that doctors aren’t learning to do breech deliveries anymore. It’s one of the huge reasons that we have very few midwives in this country," Gaskin says. "Midwives are at the bottom of the pile, basically, on getting coverage." Gaskin is also the founder of the Safe Motherhood Quilt Project, which seeks to draw public attention to the high maternal mortality rate in the United States.

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Source: Democracy Now!
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