According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), more women die in the U.S. from pregnancy-related complications than in any other developed country, and the U.S. is the only industrialized nation with a steadily rising maternal mortality rate. Racial disparities in maternal mortality are staggering – black women are three to four times more likely to die from pregnancy-related causes compared to white women.
Dr. Trish Suplee shares her expertise on maternal health, and on educating healthcare providers about postpartum health risks, in “The U.S. Maternal Health Crisis: Partnering to Reverse the Trend,” a story by Media Planet on the CDC’s first-ever multi-state report on maternal deaths.
Dr. Suplee, an associate professor at the Rutgers School of Nursing–Camden, explains in the article, “We need to start with education of practitioners and providers, and encourage doctors, nurses and even pediatricians to talk to women more about dangerous postpartum signs and symptoms.”
The new CDC report, Building U.S. Capacity to Review and Prevent Maternal Deaths, promotes the maternal mortality review process as the best way to understand why maternal mortality in the U.S. is increasing, and identify interventions to prevent maternal deaths. It supports essential review functions and enables data to be combined across sectors for national learning, which was not previously possible.