Manager, Regional Media Relations at AmeriHealth Caritas and Owner, Xperience Matters Marketing. Posts and opinions are my own. Reposts are not endorsements.
We may need to reevaluate how we are handling #pregnancyleave in the U.S. Lifestyle and Wellness Reporter Sara Moniuszko of CBS News says approximately 22 women died from #childbirth-related #causes for every 100,000 live births in the United States in 2022, according to the The Commonwealth Fund, a private research foundation, making the U.S. the country with the #highestrate of #maternaldeaths of any high-income nation analyzed. In comparison, the three countries with the #lowestrates are Sweden, with nearly three deaths for every 100,000 births, Switzerland, with one, and Norway, with zero. Within the U.S., the rate is #lowest for #Asian Americans and #highest for #Black women. For Black women in the country, the rate jumps to nearly 50 deaths for every 100,000 births. "Compared to women in the other countries we studied, U.S. women are the least likely to have supports such as #homevisits and #guaranteedpaidleave during this critical time," the report states. "All countries included in this study, apart from the U.S., mandate at least #14weeks of #paidleave from work. Several countries provide more than a year of parental or home care leave," the report states. "Our findings suggest that an undersupply of maternity providers, especially #midwives, and lack of #access to #comprehensivepostpartumsupport, including #maternitycarecoverage and #mandatedpaidmaternityleave, are contributing factors (to maternal mortality)," the report adds. "Because both these factors disproportionately affect #womenofcolor, centering equity in any future policy changes will be a key to addressing the crisis."
