The Mortality Of Maternal Mortality

Health has been influenced by many factors such as poor health status, disease risk factors, and limited access to healthcare. All these factors are due to social, economic and environmental disadvantages. According to the World Organization (WHO) (2015), “the social determinants of health are mostly responsible for health inequities, which is the unfair and avoidable differences in health status seen within and between countries”

In Sridhar Venkatapuram’s (2010) article Global Justice and the Social Determinants of Health, the main argument presented is of the Commission on the Social Determinants of Health (CSDH) 2008 final report and examines the lack of general support the findings have received. The main concept of this analysis appears to mirror that of the CSDH’s report on “whether science, linked with ethics, can motivate global action, and whether the public scrutiny and deliberation…can meaningfully be brought together in global health policy” (Venkatapuram, 2010, p. 120). The premise behind this concept is that by bringing professionals together to address the strengths and weakness of the model, the theory behind social determinants of health will gain momentum.

Death and illnesses among women, infant, and child are preventable. In pregnancy, existing health risks can distinguish or prevent any future health problems for women and their children. According to U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (2016), some high-risk factors that may consider are the following: hypertension, heart disease, diabetes, depression, genetic conditions, sexually transmitted diseases, tobacco and alcohol abuse, inadequate nutrition and unhealthy weight. By having this government Healthy 2020 initiative, factors that can affect the pregnancy and childbirth such as poverty,

Childbirth is one of the greatest privileges on the earth anyone could have and we, as women, should feel proud to be major contributors for it. Thus, a mother has to play a key role in aiding the healthcare workers to mitigate the health crisis associated with childbirth by performing her duties faithfully. One such associated health crisis is “Premature (preterm) birth” which occurs when the baby is born too early, before 37 weeks of gestational period (CDC, 2015). The rate of preterm birth ranges from 5% to 18% of babies born across 184 countries (WHO, 2015).

According to Healthy People 2020, "Improving the well-being of mothers, infants, and children, is an important public health goal for the United States. Their well-being determines the health of the next generation and can help predict future public health challenges for families, communities, and the health care system" (Healthy People 2020, 2015). Infant mortality is defined as the death of an infant before his or her first birthday, while fetal mortality is defined as the intrauterine death of a fetus at any gestational age (MMRW, 2013 and MacDorman, Kirmeyer & Wilson, 2012). In the United States an estimated 13,000 fetal deaths occurred ≥ 28 weeks gestation making up 28% of all perinatal deaths in 2006, the latest year with available national data (Lee,

Furthermore, modern abortion procedures are extremely safe. So safe, in fact, that the risk of a woman dying from an abortion is less that one out of 100,000. On the other hand, the number of women who die during childbirth is 13.3 out of 100,000. Access to legal, professionally performed abortion reduces both injury and death caused by “back-alley” abortions. These back-alley abortions account for 68,000 maternal deaths a year in the 33 countries where abortion is either not legal, or unavailable (World Health Organization, Oct. 2006).

Centre for Maternal and Child Enquiries (CMACE) (2011) Saving mothers’ lives; reviewing maternal deaths to make motherhood safer: 2006-2008. BJOG 18(1): 1-203. London. Blackwell Synergy.

Medical and technological advances in maternal and neonatal care have significantly reduced maternal and infant mortality and medical interventions have become commonplace and arguably routine. Used appropriately, they can be lifesaving procedures. Routine use, without valid indication though, can transform childbirth from a natural physiologic process and family event into a medical or surgical procedure. Every intervention presents the possibility of unwanted effects and subsequent risks that can potentiate more interventions with their own inherent risks (McKinney, 2014).

The fifth goal is to increase maternal health in countries with a focus on reducing the maternal mortality rate by three-fourths and universal access to reproductive health both by 2015. Despite a 43% reduction in maternal deaths since 1990, there are still a large number of women who die during childbirth from preventable causes such as hemorrhaging (United Nations, 2015, p. 38).

Women’s unequal social and economic status has led to lower levels of political participation and representation and worst health outcomes. We address the Triple Aim to improve healthcare outcomes and experience for women by focusing on maternal health. We address costs reduction by the expenses associated with loss of life and productivity loss. We are interested in the associations among maternal health and women’s political participation of women.

Women make up just slightly over half the U.S population (US Census Bureau, 2010) and should not be even considered a part of a minority group. The female population should acquire the same equal research attention as men do, especially when it comes to health issues. The unavoidable, yet quite simple realities of breastfeeding, menstruation, menopause, along with pregnancy require special scrutiny from medical experts. Those medical specialties are generally referred as gynecologists or obstetrics, who focus on the exclusive needs of a female’s reproductive health throughout their lifespan. Historically, the health needs of women have been disregarded as well as their fundamental rights. However, over the past few decades, it has grabbed the media and the government’s attention causing some major changes in support of women’s rights and health care.

In 2013, 289 000 women died during pregnancy and childbirth and it was estimated that everyday 800 women all over the world died from childbirth or childbirth-related problems (World Health Organization, 2014). Often, maternal mortality is found to occur more often in developing countries than developed countries. Maternal mortality refers women who died from the situation like during pregnancy, termination of pregnancy within 42 days, regardless of duration and place of pregnancy, from aggravation caused by the pregnancy or pregnancy management (Nwagha et al, 2010). Maternal mortality may be resulted from direct or indirect cause. Direct causes are from obstetric complications of pregnancy, labour, and puerperium, and interventions whereas indirect causes are from the worsening of current conditions by pregnancy or delivery (Givewell, 2009). This paper aims to examine the causes for maternal mortality in both developed and developing countries and will end with a proposal for government to ensure women are given reproductive health rights.

There are various ways to measure maternal mortality. The extent of maternal mortality in a population is essentially the combination of two factors: the risk of death in a single pregnancy or a single live birth and the number of pregnancies or births that are experienced by women of reproductive age. The MMR is defined as the number of maternal deaths during a given time period per 100 000 live births during the same time period. By contrast, the maternal mortality rate (MMRate) is defined as the number of maternal deaths in a population divided by the number of women aged 15–49 years (or woman-years lived at ages 15–49 years)(1,2).

Prenatal care is widely accepted as an important element in improving pregnancy outcome. (Gorrie, McKinney, Murray, 1998). Prenatal care is defined as care of a pregnant woman during the time in the maternity cycle that begins with conception and ends with the onset of labor. A medical, surgical, gynecologic, obstretic, social and family history is taken (Mosby's Medical, Nursing, and Allied Health Dictionary, 1998). It is important for a pregnant woman as well as our society to know that everything that you do has an effect on your baby. Because so many women opt not to receive the benefits of prenatal care, our society sees the ramification, which include a variety of complications primarily

From taking this class, I have gained significant understanding of biological determinants of women’s health. Learning about the number of unique biological risks women face is important to understand for me because I am a woman and this risks are likely to pertain to me as well. One of topic of biological aspect of women’s health we covered in class were risks factors associated with pregnancy, its complication and pregnancy itself. Understanding about maternal death and number of causes such as hemorrhage, sepsis, hypertensive, and abortion