Crypto News: America's maternal mortality crisis

Hi, it's Fiona in New York City. Here the rates of pregnancy-related deaths among Black women are disproportionately high. Some are even calling it a maternal mortality crisis. But first…

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Compared with other wealthy countries, the US is the most dangerous place to give birth by a wide margin. There were 23.8 deaths for every 100,000 live births in 2020, up from 20.1 in 2019, according to the latest statistics from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. By contrast, data from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development suggests that in France — the next most-risky industrialized nation for childbirth — the figure is just 7.8.

Research suggests these numbers are due to a mixture of factors. For one, the absence of universal health care means that Americans can face high out-of-pocket costs — leading many to skip the doctor. The US also has the fewest maternal health providers and midwives of any high-income country.

Racial inequities also play a role. Pregnancy-related mortality rates for Native American and Black women are two and three times higher than the US average, respectively. And in rural areas, where access to maternity care is often limited, women are about 60% more likely to die before, during or after birth.

The federal government is taking steps to address this longstanding problem. This time last year, Vice President Kamala Harris convened the first-ever federal Maternal Health Day of Action at the White House, where she issued a call for federal agencies, businesses and nonprofits to work together to solve the maternal health crisis.

I heard about the resulting initiatives during a Department of Health and Human Services event in Washington earlier this month.

Chiquita Brooks-LaSure, the head of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, said there that most states expanded Medicaid postpartum coverage from 60 days to 1 year, with help from the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021. She also unveiled a birthing-friendly hospital designation — essentially a badge awarded to hospitals that have demonstrated a commitment to maternity care quality, safety and equity. More than 25 healthcare plans have agreed to display the icon in their hospital directories.

But despite the federal push, attention to this issue at the state level still varies. For example, 15 Republican-led states haven't expanded Medicaid postpartum coverage.

Some states are already seeing results. New Jersey launched a campaign called Nurture NJ that aims to reduce the state's maternal mortality rate by 50% over five years. The state was also the first in the country to have community doulas reimbursed by Medicaid. It is one of only four states that have reduced preterm births, according to a recent report by nonprofit March of Dimes. From 2016 to 2021, the preterm birth rate fell from 9.9% to 9.2%.

New Jersey's First Lady, Tammy Murphy, has been fighting to tackle the maternal mortality crisis in the state since her husband came into office five years ago.

"We have a long way to go," she said. "But it gives us a little bit of a kick in our step and now we can at least point to something." — Fiona Rutherford

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