Women in America die more frequently from complications of childbirth than in any other industrialized nation in the world. In addition, women of color are three to four times more likely to die than white women. And over the last 25 years that the maternal mortality was rising in America, other countries were decreasing their rate.
There are lots of reasons why maternal mortality and morbidity is rising, including lack of access, the high rate of caesarian sections, racial bias, bias against women's health issues, and a medical model that medicalizes a normal process.
While no one action can explain why maternal mortality rates are lower in European countries, we do know that they utilize one resource that we don't: midwives and doulas.
GUESTS:
- Neel Shah - Assistant Professor of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Biology at Harvard Medical School, Director of the Delivery Decisions Initiative at Harvard’s Ariadne Labs, and co-founder of March for Moms
- Joan Combellick - Certified nurse midwife Women's Health Research Fellow at the Connecticut VA Health System
- Sascha James-Conterelli - Certified nurse midwife and a lecturer at Yale School of Nursing.
- Melissa Duenas - Birth doula and founder of Birth Tribe
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Colin McEnroe and Chion Wolf contributed to this show.
