As one of the world's leading and most powerful nation, the United States, time and time again, finds itself falling behind in healthcare. Though the government spends more than any other country on healthcare services, about $3.5 trillion, accounting for almost 20% of the gross domestic product, it doesn't guarantee the best outcomes or overall better quality of life.
Despite other developed nations, like Great Britain and France improving, maternal healthcare in the United States continues to fall behind. From giving birth to maternity leave, these statistics highlight the alarming maternal health care crisis in the United States.
The maternal mortality rate has climbed to 26.4.
The maternal mortality rate (MMR) reflects the number of women who die due to the complications of pregnancy or childbirth, out of 100,000 live births. This is the highest rate out of all the world's developing countries, with Italy at 4.2 and the United Kingdom at 9.2, even falling behind countries like Croatia and Libya.
Pregnant women of color are two to four times more likely to die of complications than pregnant white women.
If nothing else, this statistic on its own is evidence of the detrimental effects of systemic racism. Stress due to the daily experiences of racial discrimination increases the chances of delivering preterm and delivering an infant with low birth weight. The MMR for black women is a striking 42 deaths out of every 100,000 births.
About one in four women do not receive proper prenatal care.
Access to prenatal care is essential for both the mother and the child. Without it, both lack the essential vitamins needed for proper development, screening for health defects, and the necessary plans needed leading up to birth and after to prevent such outcomes. Mothers who aren't able to make their scheduled visits are more commonly of lower socioeconomic status or living in rural areas with less access.
14% of new mothers suffer from postpartum depression.
After childbirth, there is a drop in all the hormones needed to carry the baby. Combined with the lack of sleep that follows from taking care of a newborn, new mothers are prone to experience feelings of sadness, exhaustion, anxiety, and guilt. Because of the guilt, especially, mothers lead themselves to believe that there is something wrong with them and question their ability to bond and take care of their child, so many times, they refuse to acknowledge it or to seek treatment. Without treatment, it can last for months and can even interfere with the sleeping and eating patterns of the baby.
88% of women have no paid maternity leave.
Surprisingly, the United States doesn't have a mandated parental leave policy, one of the only countries to do so. Though most employers give up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave to both parents, many argue that this period of time is too short, especially since neither parent is resting or catching up on sleep. Once again, the nation falls behind other developed countries when it comes to these policies. This definitely influences a woman's decision to hold off on having a child until they are more stable in their career when it shouldn't have to be that way. In other countries, paid parental leave coupled with more affordable childcare actually encourages women to stay in the workforce and gain higher wages later on. It also helps the family when the need it the most, so they don't have to choose between caring for their child at home or working to provide for it financially.
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Some things have to change. Whether it's where the money within the healthcare budget is being spent, to the creation of an actual paid leave policy, to better access to prenatal and postnatal care, America needs to pay more attention and take better care of its mothers. There's no reason mothers in the United States should have to worry about such severe childbirth complications or not have a child even if they want to, because they can't afford to care for it. Children are needed for society to grow and prosper, but before that, mothers need to be taken care of to ensure and secure the development of their own families and society as a whole.
