Maternal Death

by Joanna Kurylo

Every 90 seconds. That is how often a woman dies due to giving birth. That is 90 seconds too often. This week, leaders met at the United Nations not only for the opening of the General Assembly but also to discuss the Millennium Development Goals. By the year 2015, the goal of the MDGs was to cut the number of deaths by 75%. Progress has been made, as a matter of fact, a woman used to die every 60 seconds due to giving birth.

More progress needs to be made, and that is what Amnesty International has been stressing as a part of their “Demand Dignity Campaign.” On September 20^th, Amnesty International had launched a “Maternal Death Clock” in the middle of Times Square (it is also available on amnestyusa.org.) The purpose of this campaign was to raise awareness about a particular issue that most people are not aware about. Every 90 seconds, one more number was added to symbolize how many women have died. What may shock people even more is that the United States is one of the countries with the worst statistics on maternal care! The United States is officially one of 40 other countries where they have a greater risk of dying to delivery complications! Amnesty International states, "The US health care is failing women. For those who can afford it, the USA offers some of the best health are in the world. For many, however, that care is beyond reach." Horrifying statistics resonate this.

“Deadly Delivery: The Maternal Health Care Crisis in the USA” a publication by Amnesty International, discusses the various barriers to proper Maternal Health in the United States. Some of the barriers include financial, beurcratic and language. Women of color, those in poverty or women who are immigrants are more likely to die due to various complications.

According to the Organization for Economic Co-Operation and Development the United States spends more on health care than any other country in the world. Also according to Kulkina, in Sever Obstetric Morbidity in the United States, over 68,000 women died between the years of 2004-2005!

Hopefully, the push to end maternal death will continue. Just because world leaders leave NY and go back to their daily roles, they will still be reminded that though preventable, a woman is still dying every 90 seconds. Even though Amnesty International has submitted all of the petitions (46,000), there are still things that you can do in order to help stop the deaths. Tweet or Facebook the following message, "Every 90 sec, one woman dies giving birth. Tell MDG Summit leaders to end #maternaldeaths by 2015." If you have your own blog or website, please share the clock! One of the biggest obstacles to ending maternal death is lack of knowledge. Please spread what you know today.