Running head: MATERNAL MORTALITY IN RECENT HISTORY 1

Maternal Mortality in Recent History

Jackson Finch

e3 Civic High
MATERNAL MORTALITY IN RECENT HISTORY 2

Abstract

Maternal mortality is the death of a mother during pregnancy, or within 42 days afterward, and it

has remained a relatively common cause of death in all parts of the world. Despite maternal

mortality rates being the lowest theyve ever been (from a study in 2015), it is still a prevalent

cause of womens death today. Maternal deaths occur for a variety of reasons, and according to

the World Health Organization (WHO), it most commonly occurs due to haemorrhage,

hypertensive disorders, and sepsis. However, indirect causes account for 27% of maternal deaths

worldwide. These deaths oftentimes are treatable, and according to Half the Sky, they happen

because of four reasons: biology, lack of education, lack of rural health care, and disregard for

women. Maternal mortality happens all over the world, and despite it being more common in

third world countries, it isnt uncommon in regions such as North America and Europe.

Keywords: women, maternal mortality, disregard for women, common cause of death
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Maternal Mortality in Recent History

Throughout every country, issues arise regardless of peoples measures to stop them. This

is evident in politics, poverty, war, and surprisingly enough, unjust treatment of women. Women

from everywhere in the world, third world countries especially, experience many issues, but the

one that baffles me the most is maternal mortality, or the death of a mother during or shortly

after pregnancy. Although people consider childbirth to be a miracle because it brings new life

into the world, its very dangerous and, more often than people like to believe, results in the

death of the mother. This issue can be caused by anything from bone structure, to ruptured blood

vessels, to disregard for women, but the common factor among most of them is that they are

treatable, but remain untreated.

Maternal mortality happens for a variety of reasons. Through their research, the authors

of Half the Sky narrow the causes down to four: biology, lack of education, lack of rural health

care, and disregard for women. The first reason, biology, is simple; through evolution, our bodies

have adapted to be better suited to stand on two legs, and to walk and run that way.

Unfortunately, that functionality was at the expense of more obstructed labors. Education also

plays a role in maternal mortality. Oftentimes when women die due to fistulas, or labor

obstructions, the reason is the lack of education. Fistulas result in death when the people aiding

in labor, or the mother herself, cant properly treat them. However, thats not the only reason

women die to fistulas, especially in rural or impoverished settings. Despite doctors originating

from all over the world, they often choose to live in densely populated areas. This makes it so

that there are less doctors living in rural areas, and thus less people to treat fistulas and other

birth related issues. The final issue responsible for maternal mortality is disregard for women.
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When people first associate maternal mortality with disregard for women, they oftentimes think

of abuse toward the mother. However, in most instances, the mother is disregarded. In some

African villages, if you were a rape victim, you would, in most instances be placed in a hut far

away from the village, and excommunicated from the community.

Another misconception about maternal deaths is that they only occur in third world

countries. This is contradicted by the fact that North America and the Middle Easts maternal

death rates being about one death in every one thousand live births. This doesnt seem like much,

but considering that there are over one thousand births every day in the United States alone,

maternal mortality accounts for a large amount of deaths worldwide.

Oftentimes when people think of maternal mortality, they dismiss the issue as

unfortunate. The common causes of maternal death, haemorrhage, hypertensive disorders, and

sepsis, are easily treatable, but accounted for 56 percent of maternal deaths according to a study

by the World Health Organization in 2014. The study stated, These analyses should inform the

prioritisation of health policies, programmes, and funding to reduce maternal deaths at regional

and global levels. Further efforts are needed to improve the availability and quality of data

related to maternal mortality (Say, 2014). The most common causes are haemorrhage, or

escape of blood from the circulatory system; hypertensive disorders, or birth-complicating

symptoms induced by the tension of labor; or sepsis, or simply the presence of harmful bacteria.

This makes the issue of maternal deaths that much more potent, as nearly every hospital has the

ability to treat the cause of over 50 percent of them. Imagine if there was a cure for three quarters

of all types of cancer, but over half of cancer patients who die, dying to the curable types. Even

despite this, 27 percent of maternal deaths are due to indirect causes, whether that be a different
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disease, or an unlikely accident, or abuse. This shows that, for the most part, maternal death is

treatable, and it shows that theres definitely a correlation in indirect causes if it accounts for 27

percent of deaths. Because of these reasons, maternal death shouldnt occur as often as it does

today.

Counter Argument

Some people believe that maternal mortality isnt large enough of a problem for it to be

dealt with. However, it has remained one of the top 30 causes of death across the world, above

breast cancer, which has far more public attention and funding. Also, oftentimes people will

dismiss the current issue saying that it can be solved by educating our youth. However, that

doesnt solve the issue. Sure, having more doctors in third world countries, and educating people

on the details and processes of childbirth is important, but what do we do before theyre old

enough to be part of the solution? This alone is the reason that there should be more funding in

the areas of medicine and education for the future of third world countries, but also more funding

toward fixing the current healthcare systems and womens current economic status worldwide.

Conclusion

Maternal mortality as a whole is an issue as relevant as breast cancer, and is actually

much more common. If its treated as such, the global maternal mortality rate would decrease

significantly. This can be done in a handful of ways. One of which is to build more hospitals in

third-world countries, and increase the accessibility of the already existing ones. Another way is

to have an increased attention toward equal rights between genders in all countries, especially
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since over a quarter of maternal deaths occur due to indirect causes. Finally, the last step is

broadening the knowledge of the youth today relating to the importance of safety in labor, and

maintaining the accessibility of hospitals, as well as the equality of women and men. Theres no

reason a mother should die while giving birth; these methods will help to diminish this global

issue as a whole.
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References

Committee of Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions, Subcommittee on Public Health. (n.d.).

Uninsured Pregnant Women: Impact on Infant and Maternal Mortality.

This live seminar is the latest publication (strange that it was over 15 years ago) relating

to the impact of maternal mortality, and the governments action in this topic. It states

that the U.S. is ranked 28th in the world in infant mortality, and 21st in maternal

mortality. The action proposed and carried in this hearing allows states the option to

cover unborn children through insurance, but for some reason not including pregnant

women.

Kristof, N. D., & WuDunn, S. (2009). Half the sky: Turning oppression into opportunity for

women worldwide. New York: Alfred A. Knopf.

This book covers everything from female economic empowerment to gender-based

violence, and gives valuable stories, statistics, and related information regarding maternal

mortality. One story portrayed describes an Ethiopian girl who was sold, raped,

impregnated, and ultimately abandoned by her family and village. She later suffered a

labor obstruction (called a fistula) and a serious injury to her pelvis and legs. She and

other girls like her in third world countries experience this more commonly than Id like

to believe, and the book presents the main ideas of why this happens: biology, lack of

schooling, lack of rural health care, and disregard for women.

Say, L. (2014). Global causes of maternal death: a WHO systematic analysis. The Lancet Global

Health, 2(6). doi:10.1016/s2214-109x(14)70227-x

Global causes of maternal death: a WHO systematic analysis is a scientific study, whose

findings show that indirect causes account for 27.5% of all maternal deaths. Also,

between 2003 and 2009, haemorrhage, hypertensive disorders, and sepsis were

responsible for more than half of maternal deaths worldwide, despite all of these

problems are treatable in nearly every hospital.

Unknown Author. Maternal Mortality. (2016, April). Retrieved January 17, 2017, from

http://data.unicef.org/topic/maternal-health/maternal-mortality/

According to these statistics, maternal mortality rates were the lowest theyve been (the

last time there was a study) in 2015, with the highest rates of death being in Sub Saharan

Africa, and the lowest being in the CEE/CIS (Central-Eastern Europe and

Commonwealth of Independent States). However, for every 100,000 live births

worldwide, there are 216 deaths, which is still absurdly high, and to put it in simpler

terms, thats about 1 in every 500 people who give birth who die.

Unknown Author. Maternal mortality: only 42 days? (2003, November). Retrieved January 10,

2017, from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/14592584

Despite maternal mortality being defined as the death of a woman while pregnant or

within 42 days after birth, it is found that most maternal deaths that happen following

birth happen after the 42 day period.