The Commonwealth Fund has revealed the results of a recent study on maternal mortality rates around the world. According to the U.S. reports, the study found a very worrying trend in the country among mothers who died shortly after birth. This also highlighted the need for the country to do better in protecting the lives of these new mothers.

The Commonwealth Fund analyzed the rates of maternal mortality in many countries around the world. For the U.S. report, the survey found that two-thirds of the deaths of new mothers happen within a year after the woman has given birth. This is quite worrying as intense follow-up care and treatment for these new mothers can prevent about 80% of these deaths from happening. 

Data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development was used to determine the U.S. results. It found that for every 100,000 live births, 22 mothers die in the U.S. compared to the 0-14 deaths recorded by other countries. 65% of these deaths occur within a year after delivery.

As the deaths in other countries are relatively low, researchers were quite surprised to find that the maternal mortality rate in the U.S. was so high. Munira Z. Gunja, the lead author of the research, told ABC News that this was quite high, knowing that almost 80% of the deaths could have been prevented with proper treatment and care. 

Gunja also believes that a lot of the blame lies with the American healthcare system because it was obvious that women’s health was not much of a priority for the country. The lead author also noted that if the U.S. healthcare system prioritized getting mothers the right care and helped them deliver their children in a safer way, the maternity death rate would be significantly lower. 

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According to the results of the survey, 65% of maternal deaths happen postpartum. Of this 65% of death rates after giving birth, 12% happened less than a week after they gave birth. An increase of 22% happened between a week and 42 days after the mothers gave birth. 30% of these postpartum deaths happened around 43 to 365 days. 

The results of the report also found that the most affected mothers were black women. For every 100,000 live births in the country, 49.5 Black women die postpartum. Therefore, it shows that there is a very wide gap between the level of healthcare that black mothers get before, during, and after their pregnancy when compared to people from other races. 

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Some of the other countries that the study compared the American results to are Japan, Chile, Korea, Chile, Australia, Germany, France, New Zealand, Sweden, Norway, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Canada, and the United Kingdom. The report also states that all these countries have a universal healthcare system that the United States of America lacks. Therefore, it was not surprising that the U.S. had the highest death rate. 

The research also stated a couple of things that other countries are doing that the U.S. isn’t doing, which could be the reason for this high maternal mortality rate. Gunja told ABC News in the interview that there are many steps the United States can take to reduce maternal deaths or even eliminate them completely, just like some countries have also done.

Gunja noted a couple of problems with the healthcare system for women in the United States of America that can be the reasons for this high mortality rate. One of them is that the U.S. is the only state that participated in the survey that does not guarantee mothers at least one visit to their home within seven days after delivery. This is a proven way to help new mothers. 

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The U.S. also had one of the lowest numbers of midwives among all the countries that were surveyed. In most high-income countries, the number of midwives was significantly higher than that of obstetricians and gynecologists. However, Korea, Canada, and the had a higher number of gynecologists and obstetricians than midwives.

Midwives are specifically trained to help women with their postpartum care. Therefore, Gunja believes that having more midwives can be a lifesaver for many. They build better relationships with the mothers since they provide care for them in the comfort of their homes. Since ob-gyn doctors can be harder to see impromptu, midwives step in and care for these mothers very carefully. 

A few weeks ago, the CDC reported that after a constant increase in maternal death rates for three years, the U.S. finally saw a decrease in 2022. Therefore, Gunja believes that this can be a good sign that progress could be made. Most of the deaths are highly preventable, and Gunja asserts that the U.S. can achieve a much lower maternal mortality rate. 

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