Deep Dive: Maternal Mortality

This episode, Jessa and Kelly share their thoughts on America's unusually high maternal mortality rate, with Jessa offering a medical perspective and Kelly offering some legal and policy aspects to the discussion. We talked about how maternal mortality disproportionately impacts Black and Indigenous women, the gaps in American healthcare, and even how hospitals are designed to make childbirth more high-stress. Please contact us if you have an experience to share! Also, we are currently adapting to a new, bi-weekly schedule, so bear with us! Thank you so much for your support! For additional information on how the state of California has reduced maternal mortality rate via "drills" and education about common signs of conditions that cause maternal death, read here: Renee Montagne, To Keep Women from Dying in Childbirth, Look to California, NPR (Jul. 29, 2018, 8:02 am.), https://www.npr.org/2018/07/29/632702896/to-keep-women-from-dying-in-childbirth-look-to-california#:~:text=To%20Keep%20Women%20From%20Dying%20In%20Childbirth%2C%20Look%20To%20California%20%3A%20NPR&text=Live%20Sessions-,To%20Keep%20Women%20From%20Dying%20In%20Childbirth%2C%20Look%20To%20California,rate%20by%20more%20than%20half. Sources: The Central Intelligence Agency, Country Comparison: Maternal Mortality Rate, CIA Factbook, https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/rankorder/2223rank.html (Retrieved Oct. 13th, 2020) Collier, Ai-Ris Y, and Rose L Molina. “Maternal Mortality in the United States: Updates on Trends, Causes, and Solutions.” NeoReviews vol. 20,10 (2019): e561-e574. doi:10.1542/neo.20-10-e561 Metcalfe, A, Wick, J, Ronksley, P. Racial disparities in comorbidity and severe maternal morbidity/mortality in the United States: an analysis of temporal trends. Acta Obstet Gynecol Scand 2018; 97: 89– 96. Nina Martin & Renee Montagne, Black Mothers Keep Dying After Birth. Shalon Irving’s Story Explains Why, NPR(Dec. 7, 2017, 7:51 p.m.), https://www.npr.org/2017/12/07/568948782/black-mothers-keep-dying-after-giving-birth-shalon-irvings-story-explains-why. Nina Martin & Renee Montagne, The Last Person You’d Expect to Die in Childbirth, ProPublica & NPR(May 12, 2017) Tara O’Neill Hayes & Carly McNeil, Maternal Mortality in the United States, American Action Forum (Sep. 9th, 2019), https://www.americanactionforum.org/insight/maternal-mortality-in-the-united-states. Pregnancy-Related Deaths, The CDC, https://www.cdc.gov/vitalsigns/maternal-deaths/index.html (last updated May 7, 2019). Report from Nine Maternal Mortality Review Committees, Reviewtoaction.org (2018) Susan Scutti, After Serena Williams Gave Birth, ‘Everything Went Bad.” CNN (Jan. 11, 2018, 2:20 p.m.) What is the Fourth Trimester? Pregnancy, Birth, and Baby, The Government of Australia Health Direct(Oct. 9, 2019),