While the risk of death from childbirth is very small, more and more U.S. women are dying due to, what experts believe to be partly to blame, the increasing maternal obesity and the rise in Caesarean sections.
Rising to its highest U.S. maternal mortality rate in decades, it accounts for 13 deaths in 100,000 live births in 2004, according to statistics released by the National Center for Health Statistics. While the death of infants is much more common, with the nation’s infant mortality rate at 679 per 100,000 live births in 2004, death from childbirth remains fairly rare in the United States.
Deaths from childbirth were a much more common tragedy 90 years ago where nearly one in every 100 live births resulted in a mother’s death. However, many people find it hard to understand how in this age of hi-tech hospital facilities and advanced medical breakthroughs that maternal deaths still happen just like that.
The rising C-section rate at 29 percent of all births have been related to anesthesia, infection, and blood clots. One of the leading causes of pregnancy-related death is excessive bleeding, followed by blood vessel blockages and infections. Women with several previous C-sections are at especially high risk.
Obesity can also be a factor, according to medical experts, as heavier women are more prone to diabetes and other complications. Having excess tissue and larger babies can make a vaginal delivery more problematic that may lead to more C-sections.
Another factor for greater risks in pregnancy-related deaths is the age of mothers. More women are giving birth in their late 30s and 40s, when complications risks are greater.
The following characteristics of the maternal mortality rate include: