Pregnancy and childbirth have always been strenuous and dangerous. A mother’s health, and in turn the health of her child, can be difficult to monitor and maintain throughout the developments. However, modern medicine and improving technology have thankfully eliminated many of the worst hazards associated with pregnancy and childbirth, causing many countries to greatly reduce the mortality rate of women over the last few decades. Why, then, has America seen an increase of fatal pregnancy and birthing incidents?
Global Survey Reveals Unsettling Statistics
The United Nations and World Bank gathered childbirth mortality rate information and statistics between 1990 and 2015. The United States averaged 14 deaths per every 100,000 live births in 2015; back in 1990, the number was only 12. Compared to Canada, the information is even more striking, as Canadian mothers perish during childbirth 7 times out of every 100,000 incidents – or half as often as American mothers. Infant mortality rates are also strikingly higher in America, noted as double that in Japan or Finland.
According to the researchers, most of the maternal deaths in America are caused by entirely preventable complications, such as high blood pressure or excessive bleeding. As the mortality rate for mothers has gone up, so has the frequency of pregnancy intervention methods. Doctors and researchers are considering that there could be a very real correlation between the two.
Medical Complexities Lead to Pregnancy Complications
In particular, forced C-sections are extremely prevalent these days in America, making up close to 33% of all childbirths. While C-sections and surgically-assisted pregnancies are necessary to protect a mother and her child in some instances, many are not. The same can be said of medically-induced labor. It may be possible that doctors and mothers are focused more on completing a pregnancy in a “timely manner” than the safety of the mother and her baby.
It is also thought that mothers are receiving worse prenatal care today than they were 25 years ago. While doctors order a multitude of tests for a pregnant mother to undergo, usually pertaining to expedited deliveries, information can become disordered and inaccurate between clinics. The result may be a birth injury caused directly by disorganized patient files, one of the most common types of medical malpractice.
If you or your child have been hurt due to medical malpractice, you should consider suing for full compensation. Contact Rash Mueller and our Miami medical malpractice attorney to schedule a free consultation.