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February 4, 2010 | Print

More Women Dying from Pregnancy Complications

California Watch reports that the rate of women dying from causes directly related to pregnancy in California has almost tripled in the last ten years–the greatest increase in pregnancy related deaths since the 1930s. The number of deaths is very small, but for comparison, giving birth in California has greater risks than in Kuwait or Bosnia.

While some experts cite the change as a result of better mortality reporting, initial investigations from the California Department of Health task force find there is an actual increase in deaths. Advocates for maternal health want the increase studied and steps taken to change the trend. Doctors are considering obesity, diabetes and complications of cesarean sections as possible factors. The rate of C-sections has increased 50 percent in the same ten year period, and having an induction doubles the likelihood of a C-section.

The California task force has started pilot projects in hospitals to improve their response to hemorrhages and tracking of women’s medical conditions, and to reduce inductions.

For more about the investigation and research on maternal health, see Michael Krasny’s Forum interview Pregnancy Related Deaths on the Rise? with Nathanael Johnson, the journalist who wrote the California Watch article and Dr. Elliot Main, chief of Obstetrics and Gynecology at the California Pacific Medical Center and principal investigator for the California Maternal Quality Care Collaborative.

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