#Maternal Mortality

[rapeculturerealities]

Georgia Dismissed All Members of Maternal Mortality Committee After ProPublica’s Report on Amber Thurman, Candi Miller Deaths — ProPublica

Georgia officials have dismissed all members of a state committee charged with investigating deaths of pregnant women. The move came in response to ProPublica having obtained internal reports detailing two deaths.

ProPublica reported in September on the deaths of Amber Thurman and Candi Miller, which the state maternal mortality review committee had determined were preventable. They were the first reported cases of women who died without access to care restricted by a state abortion ban, and they unleashed a torrent of outrage over the fatal consequences of such laws. The women’s stories became a central discussion in the presidential campaign and ballot initiatives involving abortion access in 10 states.

[batboyblog]

Things the Biden-Harris Administration Did This Week #31

August 23-30 2024

The Department of Transportation announced $521 million to help increase the number of electric vehicle charging ports. They money will go to projects in 29 different states, DC, and 8 tribal governments. It'll help build over 9,200 EV charging ports. Since Biden took office publicly available EV chargers has doubled, there are now over 192,000 public EV chargers in the nation with about 1,000 new ones being added every week.

The Department of The Interior announced the first ever lease for off-shore wind power in Oregon. When fully developed the two sites in Southern Oregon will generate 3.1 gigawatts of clean, renewable energy, enough to power a million homes. Under the Biden-Harris administration first of their kind off-shore wind power projects have been approved and started in the Pacific and Gulf of Mexico coasts. In total 13 gigawatts of clean energy from offshore wind projects, enough to power nearly 5 million homes, has been approved.

Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland finalized the protection of 28 million acres of public lands across Alaska.  In the last days of the Trump Administration protections for these lands were lifted. The Trump Interior Department did not consult with the Alaska natives who depend on these protected lands before lifting the protections. Deb Haaland the first Native American to serve as Secretary of the Interior declared "Tribal consultation must be treated as a requirement – not an option"

The Department of Health and Human Services announced $558 Million for improving maternal health. This is part of the Biden-Harris Administration's effort to address the maternal health crisis, which has been lead by Vice-President Harris. $440 million of the money will help expand a program of home visiting services for maternal, infant, and early childhood. $118 million, through the CDC, will go to 46 states, and six territories, over 5 years to help build the public health infrastructure to better identify and prevent pregnancy-related deaths.

It was announced that Maine will join the IRS' Direct File program for tax year 2025. Maine joins Oregon, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, New Mexico, Connecticut, North Carolina, and Wisconsin along with the original 12 states. The Direct File program, made possible by President Biden's Inflation Reduction Act, allows tax payers to file, for free, simple returns with the IRS. The 140,000 tax payers who used the pilot program in 2024 saved a collective $5.6 million in filing costs. Maine's Revenue Services plans to work with the ISR to allow tax payers to file their state taxes by just transferring the info from the ISR direct file.

[khizuo]

this statistic for the drc's maternal mortality rate comes from this paper about trends in maternal mortality from 2000 to 2020. the estimates in the paper came from the WHO, UNICEF, UNFPA, World Bank Group and UNDESA/Population Division (if you want to find this statistic, go to Annex 4.)

this paper published by BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth about maternal mortality in the DRC comes to a conclusion of 620 deaths per 100,000 live births. this study was published in 2022, with data collected from between 2015 and 2020.

[pro-birth]

According to the GEPI analysis, maternal mortality in Texas increased from 2019 to 2020 to 2021. For those of you who recall how time works, this is nearly all before the Texas heartbeat law went into effect in September 2021. What happened after the abortion ban? Texas maternal mortality substantially decreased.

Even if we assume that there are no methodological issues with the GEPI analysis, it demostrates precisely the opposite of what NBC’s descriptions and headline suggest. Their headline should more accurately say “A dramatic decrease in maternal deaths after Texas abortion ban.”

Lyman Stone, a demographer and director of research for Demographic Intelligence, took a closer look at the data. He gathered data from the CDC WONDER’s Multiple Mortality Database 2018-2024. He used all deaths related to childbirth and pregnancy to ensure the broadest possible data set.

Again, no “skyrocketing” in maternal deaths in Texas, as compared to other parts of the country, either after the Texas heartbeat law (September 2021) or after Dobbs (June 2022).

[sizzlingsandwichperfection-blog]

dear Mr Intern,

can you try to relate TB to the awesome coffee club as I am wondering if there is a relevance. I hope this will ne a fun challenge for you

The Awesome Coffee Club exists to provide people with the world's best coffee and support efforts to radically reduce maternal and infant mortality in Sierra Leone.

Over 1,500,000 people will die of tuberculosis this year. Many of those people will be pregnant. TB has long been a major cause of non-obstetric maternal death; untreated tuberculosis has a mortality rate of around 40% among pregnant people. And so expanding access to TB treatment (and spreading information about the global tuberculosis pandemic) is central to the work of radically reducing maternal mortality in Sierra Leone and beyond.

[reasonsforhope]

Researchers from Western and Brown University have made groundbreaking progress towards identifying the root cause and potential therapy for preeclampsia.

The pregnancy complication affects up to eight per cent of pregnancies globally and is the leading cause of maternal and fetal mortality due to premature delivery, complications with the placenta and lack of oxygen.

The research, led by Drs. Kun Ping Lu and Xiao Zhen Zhou at Western, and Drs. Surendra Sharma and Sukanta Jash at Brown, has identified a toxic protein, cis P-tau, in the blood and placenta of preeclampsia patients.

According to the study published in Nature Communications, cis P-tau is a central circulating driver of preeclampsia – a “troublemaker” that plays a major role in causing the deadly complication...

“The root cause of preeclampsia has (so far) remained unknown, and without a known cause there has been no cure. Preterm delivery is the only life-saving measure,” said Lu, professor of biochemistry and oncology at  Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry...

“Our study identifies cis P-tau as a crucial culprit and biomarker for preeclampsia. It can be used for early diagnosis of the complication and is a crucial therapeutic target,” said Sharma...

Until now, cis P-tau was mainly associated with neurological disorders like Alzheimer’s disease, traumatic brain injuries (TBI) and stroke. This association was discovered by Lu and Zhou in 2015 as a result of their decades of research on the role of tau protein in cancer and Alzheimer’s.

An antibody developed by Zhou in 2012 to target only the toxic protein while leaving its healthy counterpart unscathed is currently undergoing clinical trials in human patients suffering from TBI and Alzheimer’s Disease. The antibody has shown promising results in animal models and human cell cultures in treating the brain conditions.

The researchers were curious whether the same antibody could work as a potential treatment for preeclampsia. Upon testing the antibody in mouse models they found astonishing results.

“In this study, we found the cis P-tau antibody efficiently depleted the toxic protein in the blood and placenta, and corrected all features associated with preeclampsia in mice. Clinical features of preeclampsia, like elevated blood pressure, excessive protein in urine and fetal growth restriction, among others, were eliminated and pregnancy was normal,” said Sharma.

Sharma and his team at Brown have been working on developing an assay for early detection of preeclampsia and therapies to treat the condition. He believes the findings of this study have brought them closer to their goal...

“The results have far-reaching implications. This could revolutionize how we understand and treat a range of conditions, from pregnancy-related issues to brain disorders,” said Lu.

-via India Education Diary, September 22, 2023

[thashining]

Judge says: It’s *her* body, *her* choice, not the state’s

@nowthisimpact

[odinsblog]

Rest In Peace, Tori Bowie

While some vehemently deny that structural racism exists and that even individual doctors hold internal biases against Black women, maternal mortality rates do not lie.

👉🏿 https://firstandpen.com/torie-bowie-serena-williams-allyson-felix-pregnancy-black-maternal-health-mortality/

Even though 60% of all childbirth-related deaths in the US are preventable, the "[racial] disparities around maternal health are not improved by access to insurance, access to education," according to double board-certified neonatologist and pediatrician Dr. Terri Maior-Kincade.

"Having a higher socio-economic status for Black women is not protective," Major-Kincade told Insider. "These disparities are related to systemic issues, and they're not going to get better until we provide equitable care. So we have to improve the way we deliver care to Black women so that we can have the full joy of pregnancy."

👉🏿 https://www.insider.com/allyson-felix-near-death-pregnancy-issues-black-moms-face-2022-6

[nando161mando]

Kerala, an Indian region governed by the Communist Party (CPI-M) now has lower maternal mortality than the US. Assam, governned by the neoliberal BJP, has plumetted to dangerous levels.

[killed-by-choice]

FACT: Banning abortion dramatically reduces the rate of abortion— and the number of women dying from abortion

Restrictive state-level abortion policies are associated with not having an abortion at all. Calculated to account for the rate of criminal/illegal abortions.

“Women who lived in a state where abortion access was low were more likely than women living in a state with greater access to use highly effective contraceptives rather than no method” Not only are abortion rates lower where abortions are illegal, but unwanted pregnancy rates too. People are more careful. (From the Guttmacher Institute, former statistics arm of Planned Parenthood.) https://www.guttmacher.org/journals/psrh/2015/05/state-abortion-context-and-us-womens-contraceptive-choices-1995-2010

29% of Medicaid eligible pregnant women who would have an abortion with Medicaid coverage, instead give birth. Calculated to account for the rate of criminal/illegal abortions. https://bmcwomenshealth.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12905-019-0775-5

Analysis of statewide data from the three States indicated that following restrictions on State funding of abortions, the proportion of reported pregnancies resulting in births, rather than in abortions, increased in all three States. Calculated to account for the rate of criminal/illegal abortions. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1580169/pdf/pubhealthrep00193-0013.pdf

Approximately one-fourth of women who would have Medicaid-funded abortions instead give birth when this funding is unavailable … Studies have found little evidence that lack of Medicaid funding has resulted in illegal abortions. Calculated to account for the rate of criminal/illegal abortions.

We find that a 100-mile increase in distance to the nearest clinic is associated with 30.7 percent fewer abortions and 3.2 percent more births. Calculated to account for the rate of criminal/illegal abortions.

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/pam.22263

rate of abortion is found to be lower in states where access to providers is reduced and state policies are restrictive. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/9099567/

A wait time as short as 72 hours is enough to start decreasing abortion rates. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1049386716300603

Abortion decreased after being restricted: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4050978/

Michigan banned Medicaid from paying for abortion. Abortion rates dropped. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/8135922/

The farther away a woman is from an abortion facility, the less likely she is to get one: https://www.jstor.org/stable/2134397?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents

Some restrictions were enacted in Eastern Europe in the 80s and 90s. The rates of abortion AND pregnancy rates both decreased.

Fetal development information and required waiting periods lead to less abortion:

A study in Louisiana and Maryland found that laws against abortion were effective at stopping abortions

Countries with abortion bans also have dramatically lower maternal mortality compared to other countries in the region with dangerously permissive abortion laws.

“Contrary to the notion proposing a negative impact of restrictive abortion laws on maternal health, the abortion mortality ratio did not increase after the abortion ban in Chile. Rather, it decreased over 96 percent.”

Mexican states that ban and restrict abortion have better MMR than permissive states: “Over the 10-year period, states with less permissive abortion legislation exhibited lower Maternal Mortality Rates than more permissive states.”

Poland bans all abortion except LotM and has the world’s lowest MMR (2/100000). Malta bans almost all abortions and has MMR of 6/100000

It also works in reverse. Multiple countries have seen an increase in MMR after legalizing abortion.

Guyana legalized abortion and achieved the worst MMR on the continent. (Compare that to Chile, which has constitutional protections for the unborn and an MMR that dropped by over 96% AFTER abortion was banned.)

Ethiopia legalized abortion and it made MMR worse: “Although abortion was not legalised on demand, it was legalised on broad socio-economic grounds: the Center for Reproductive Rights place it in the same category as the UK and Finland which, while not strictly allowing abortion on demand, do allow something close to that in practice.” … “Over the period of legalisation, the proportion of women with septic shock more than doubled, with the same result for organ failure. The proportion admitted to intensive care nearly tripled. Between 2008 and 2014, the percentage of women receiving post-abortion care who have severe complications increased by over 50%, from 7% to 11%. During this time, the proportion of women presenting with organ failure quadrupled, the proportion with peritonitis quintupled, and the proportion with shock nearly doubled.”

Ireland’s once-stellar MMR also increased after legalizing abortion. (Compare to Poland and Malta with almost total bans and to the UK where abortion is essentially legal in demand up to the second trimester.)

The pattern repeats in Asia. Nepal, where there is no restriction on abortion, has one of the world’s highest maternal mortality rates. (The lowest in the region is Sri Lanka, with a rate fourteen times lower than Nepal and very good restrictions on abortion.)

In addition, less people are being lured into abortion under the false impression that it’s “safe and legal”. If any of them die of illegal abortion, it’s because they knowingly committed a crime. There will no longer be cases like 17-year-old Roselle Owens, Sarah Dunn, Tonya Reaves and Cree Erwin-Sheppard (to name a few) who were killed by abortion because they were lied to about the risks.

[jaythelay]

Lemme just give an example of how Republicans see parenting and children/abortion.

The true way to good parenting is the partner. If you're a woman and are expected to handle all the childcare, that's a shitty partner to be with. If you're a dude and have a partner that does nothing but want, that's a shitty partner to be with.

The fact is R's don't think that far.

Having a kid doesn't offer financial rewards, it gives you a shit stimulus check at the best of times in blue states and go fuck yourself in red states. The economy is the worst it's ever been and other than those born into money, we're all teetering towards homelessness. Which means giving up the child to adoption which will definitely be a bad life with N O T H I N G to support them once 18yo. Oh and enjoy the trauma of homelessness and failing your own flesh and blood.

Republicans don't think that far.

We know that late-stage abortions don't happen without it being medically neccessary/the fucking fetus died. We know that R's stopped free school lunches and made child slavery (labor) legal. We know that pregnancy is a health nightmare for the mother and that maternal mortality rates are abysmal in America, we know it's exceptionally even worse for minorities.

Republicans don't care that far.

So lemme ask, do you think having a rapist, your rapist, as a forced spouse/parent, is a good start for any fucking kid? Any family? Anyone? Is forced births fucking healthy for society?

Is forcing children to birth rape babies, a good family?

No.

But again. Republicans do not think. Not that far and not at all.

Anyways the mortality rate for women went up 12% half a year ago in Texas. A population of 30 million. Dumpster babies are becoming a trend again. Florida passed a law that gives pedophiles a defense against their victims, because no child wants somebody to die because of them, and guess what Florida fucking did.

Yeah no, a rapist in the family is not a good family. Maybe one Republican could believe that sometime? Is it beneficial for them this way? Yes. Because the fact is R's are dwindling any relationships and rape is quite literally the only chance most of them will have to "continue the legacy"

But Republicans don't care. Their ideology supersedes reality and cruelty, because being right to themselves and only themselves is all they want.

R's killed a shitload of women and kids in america in recent years. Hell even dudes with covid. Kinda nuts they have such an absurdly high body count and treat the mass shooter list as a leaderboard and over 700 of their politicians are registered sex offenders.

Hey, why do people vote R again? Something about sjws still? Is it 2013? No? We're nearly 12 years removed? That's deeply embarrassing.

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Noah Berlatsky at Everything Is Horrible:

Post election, progressives have argued that Harris spent too much time talking about fracking and military preparedness, and not enough talking about pocketbook issues. Centrists have argued that Harris spent too much time talking about trans issues and marginalized people, and not enough talking about pocketbook issues. Both of these narratives have little to do with the campaign we actually saw, in which Harris spoke extensively about lowering housing costs, helping first time home buyers, and fighting for the middle class. Memory holing Harris’ actual economic proposals is frustrating and silly. But it doesn’t seem likely to do long term damage since there’s at least a general agreement that helping working people and the middle class is in fact a good thing. But there is one aspect of the “Harris didn’t talk about economics” consensus that is disturbing. Abortion, in these discussions, tends to be treated as a side issue disconnected from the concerns of working people and from economic well being. And that’s fucked up.

Abortion Is An Economic Issue

I think everyone would agree that Harris made abortion a central issue in the campaign. She mentioned “Trump abortion bans” at every opportunity and regularly blamed Trump (rightly) for the Supreme Court picks that led to the end of Roe and paved the way for draconian state restrictions. Democrats hoped that state abortion rights ballot measures would boost Harris in states like Arizona and Florida—and though they didn’t win her the election, many of the measures themselves passed, even in very red states like Missouri. Abortion tends to get bracketed as an “identity politics” issue, or as a culture war issue. But part of the reason Dobbs is so unpopular is because, among its other horrors, loss of access to reproductive care is economically devastating.

[...]

Whose pocketbooks are we talking about?

Harris’ campaign focused more on the health dangers of abortion restrictions, especially on two heartbreaking cases in Georgia where the state’s abortion ban prevented two women from receiving care, leading to their deaths. The longterm damage to women’s economic standing and career options were less of a focus, in part no doubt because these consequences are seen as less sympathetic. Many conservatives believe that pregnant women should be willing, and if not willing, forced, to prioritize a blob of fetal tissue over their careers. Democrats and progressives, though, should in theory be better than that. We should know that abortion rights are a pocketbook issue for anyone who can get pregnant, and for their partners, parents, and children. When assessing Harris’ campaign, we should be acknowledging that abortion rights are crucial for economic wellbeing. To say that Harris didn’t campaign on pocketbook issues is to say that abortion is not a pocketbook issue. Which it is.

[...]

You can’t have economic progress without rights

Democrats can be timid about connecting economic wellbeing with social justice and civil rights, because they worry that any mention of non white male identity will lead to powerful white male backlash. Again, this is why Harris probably played down the economic effects of abortion in her messaging. In the second, wretched Trump era, though, it’s going to become painfully clear that when you’re denied equal rights, you’re also denied economic opportunity. You can work hard, but that’s not going to matter much if Trump revokes your legal immigration status or deports your spouse. You can go to school and get a degree to teach, but that won’t help you if LGBT people and Black people are purged from secondary and post secondary education. And, once more, if reproductive care—maybe including birth control—is banned, the financial fate of women and pregnant people becomes extremely precarious.

This piece from Noah Berlatsky on why abortion is an economic justice issue is spot on.

[thashining]

We remember all of the women who lost their lives under a Trump abortion ban. Say their names.

[melanatedmedia2]

Hey Tumblr! Black women in the US are at a higher risk of dying from pregnancy-related complications. Let's address this issue during Black Maternal Health Week. We can eliminate racial disparities in maternal health by addressing systemic racism and poverty and supporting access to quality healthcare services. Join us in advocating for policy changes and supporting community-based organizations working towards improving maternal health outcomes for Black women.

Black Maternal Health Week: Addressing Racial Disparities in Maternal Health

Maternal health is an essential issue in the United States, and Black Maternal Health Week is a week-long initiative aimed at addressing the racial disparities in maternal health outcomes. The week takes place every year from April 11th to April 17th, and it is an opportunity to raise awareness about the challenges faced by Black women during pregnancy and childbirth. The Centers for Disease…