Severe
complications from childbirth are rare in the U.S., but they are becoming more
common, a new government study finds.
Between 1998 and
2009, the rate of serious complications like heart attack, stroke, severe
bleeding and kidney failure during or after childbirth roughly doubled among
U.S. women, according to researchers at the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention (CDC).
In 2008-2009,
there were 129 cases of severe complications for every 10,000 women who
delivered in a hospital. That was up 75 percent from a decade
earlier.
At the same
time, complications during women's post-delivery hospital stay also rose: There
were 29 cases for every 10,000 women - up 114 percent from 10 years
before.
Serious
complications and deaths from childbirth are still uncommon in the U.S. Over
four million women give birth each year, and this study found about 590,000
cases of severe complications over 11 years.
"We don't want
to send the message that pregnant women should be afraid," said Dr. William M.
Callaghan of the CDC, who led the study.
With this type
of study, which used discharge records from U.S. hospitals, it's not possible to
tell why childbirth complications rose, Callaghan said.
But it's
"well-documented" from other research that more women are giving birth at older
ages, are obese, or have certain health conditions like high blood pressure and
diabetes, he added.
There are also
more young women with serious conditions, like congenital heart defects, who are
surviving and having children.
Callaghan said
the bottom line for women is to be as healthy as possible before pregnancy.
Losing weight if you are obese, and getting high blood pressure and diabetes
under control, are some ways to do that. Huffington Post
Another recent
CDC study found that minority women are at particular risk. Between 1993 and
2006, minority women accounted for 41 percent of all births nationwide, but 62
percent of all pregnancy-related deaths. nlm.nih.gov Black women were
at greatest risk. For every 100,000 babies born to African Americans, 32 to 35
mothers died. That was roughly four times the rate among white mothers.
reuters.com Heart problems
were the most common cause of death. And in this latest study, Dr. Callaghan's
team found that one childbirth complication - the need for cardiac surgery
during or after delivery - showed a "dramatic" rise over time.
Health.am
AN/HJ
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