U.S. Has The Worst Rate Of Maternal Deaths In The Developed World

https://www.npr.org/2017/05/12/528098789/u-s-has-the-worst-rate-of-maternal-deaths-in-the-developed-world

May 12, 201710:28 AM ET
Nina Martin, ProPublica
Renee Montagne

NPR and ProPublica teamed up for a six-month long investigation on maternal mortality in the U.S. Among our key findings:

More American women are dying of pregnancy-related complications than any other developed country. Only in the U.S. has the rate of women who die been rising.

There's a hodgepodge of hospital protocols for dealing with potentially fatal complications, allowing for treatable complications to become lethal.

Hospitals — including those with intensive care units for newborns — can be woefully unprepared for a maternal emergency.

Federal and state funding show only 6 percent of block grants for "maternal and child health" actually go to the health of mothers.

In the U.S, some doctors entering the growing specialty of maternal-fetal medicine were able to complete that training without ever spending time in a labor-delivery unit.