Deaths increasing in U.S. among pregnant women and new mothers
[ad_1]
Pregnant women and new mothers died at an increasing rate from 2019 to 2020, according to a new study by public health professors at the University of Texas at San Antonio.
The causes of death were not just medical complications, but included homicides, car accidents, suicides and drug poisoning.
Over the past decade, research has suggested a trend of worsening maternal health in the United States. The pandemic added to that trend, and it could get worse as abortion is restricted in some states, like Texas.
A team led by Jeffrey Howard, an associate professor of public health and the lead author of the paper, analyzed death certificates from the National Center for Health and Statistics of women across the country aged 34 years or younger for fatalities blamed on “pregnancy associated causes.”
The study found that Native American women were 3.5 times as likely to die either while pregnant or after pregnancy, and Black women were twice as likely to die, compared to white women.
Native American women more often died of car accidents, drug overdoses, homicides or suicide, and Black women died as a result of homicide more than any other racial or ethnic group.
claire.bryan@express-news.net
[ad_2]
Source link