Why Are More Women Dying?!

from Melissa...

MORE WOMEN DIE DURING CHILDBIRTH, BUT WHY?

In the LSJ on Aug. 25 under the section Lifestyles, we find the AP story "Rate of women dying in childbirth on the rise" (subtitle reads Experts: Obesity, C-sections major reasons for increase) by Mike Stobbe. Stobbe reports, "Some researchers point to the rising C-section rate, now 29 percent of all births - far higher than what public health experts say is appropriate." Yet how is it that women are getting more C-sections than what "public health experts" recommend?


GOOD QUESTION!

A paper published in 2005 by the British Medical Journal indicates that this question cannot be answered because of insufficient documentation.

The authors analyze "US national birth certificate data on approximately 4 million births annually to create a new category-—mothers at 'no indicated risk'—-and then examines the growth of primary caesareans in these women from 1991 to 2001." (The BMJ is "published by BMJ Publishing Group Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary of the British Medical Association.")

The authors' conclusion sounds alarm:

The proportion of no indicated risk primary caesareans is growing rapidly in the United States, adding to the overall rise in primary caesareans. The major limitation of this study is the quality of reporting of items on the US birth certificate. However, we would expect that "defensive medicine" would encourage the reporting of a risk factor associated with the resulting caesarean. [...] It would also be inappropriate to equate no indicated risk caesareans with "patient choice" caesareans, as birth certificate data provide no record of the mother's intent.

Although some recent editorials have suggested that vaginal births carry risks comparable to caesarean births, health problems associated with caesareans have been amply documented. All of these risks may be easily outweighed by the potential benefits to a mother or infant with a condition that could have been avoided by a timely caesarean, but what if the caesarean was done without a medical indication? In the case of no indicated risk primary caesareans, particularly for younger mothers who plan to have more children and may be denied a vaginal birth after a caesarean, additional research is needed to elucidate whether the risks of a no indicated risk primary caesarean will be offset by associated benefits. (emphasis added, full story)

Let's get this straight:

(1) US birth certificates don't document the basis for caesareans,
(2) certain women are categorized as "no indicated risk" for caesareans--a surgery well documented as carrying risk, and
(3) "editorials"--in other words editors--claim equal risk between vaginal v. caesarean births, contrary to "public health experts"!

VIOLENCE TARGETED AT WOMEN

WW Blog readers may ask, "Why go on about such a story in the midst of increasing murders in Lansing with practically all women victims?"

BECAUSE this story affirms to look carefully when following coverage about victims of violence--whomever is presenting the coverage! What kind of documents are/n't referenced? Which details are/n't emphasized? (See the Letter to the Editor "Report death trend" in the LSJ, ,Aug. 23. But to be clear, I wrote to them about the murder trend in Lansing.)

BECAUSE women are taken out AND violated by violence in an alarming scope, says the World Health Organization. "[V]iolence against women is widespread with far-reaching health consequences."

BECAUSE women's health care in the US is inferior to that of men, says the US Dept. of Health and Human Services. "Differences in quality of care are evident for women compared with men."

BECAUSE people in positions of power** too often abuse their positions. For an example too close to Lansing, read "Virg in Old Town china shop" by Kyle Melinn, City Pulse, 15 August 2007.

BECAUSE men are in positions of power** disproportionately to women in the US. We still are waiting for the first woman President and the first woman Mayor of Lansing! Women still earn less than men, says the National Committee on Pay Equity!

BECAUSE we who watch the coverage about victims of violence are alive but the victims are dead.

BECAUSE we who are women want to stay safe and alive!


(**By "positions of power" I refer to those institutional "seats" in government, commerce, religion, and so on. I do not mean that men are more powerful than women by nature or by justice. I mean that there is an alarming disproportion of men in positions of economic, political, and social power compared to women.)