Pregnant black women in New York City face nearly double national risk of death
source: http://www.womensenews.org/story/reproductive-health/110315/nycs-high-maternal-deaths-defy-u...
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New York's high rate of maternal mortality exposes glaring risks for black women. But a detailed 2010 city report eliminated many usual suspects for the maternal morality gap: poverty, obesity, pre-existing conditions.
Why is pregnancy so much more dangerous for U.S. black women?
Black women for the past five decades have consistently suffered an almost four-times greater risk of death from pregnancy complications than have white women.
The higher risks, specified in a paper published in the American Journal of Public Health, are independent of age, the number of births or education.
In 2008 22 African American women died in New York City from "pregnancy-related causes" for a maternal mortality ratio of 78.8.
Dr. Jo Ivey Bufford, president of the New York Academy of Medicine and a researcher in maternal mortality, estimates that 45 percent of these deaths are preventable.
In New York City in 2008, two white women died during pregnancy and childbirth, for a maternal mortality ratio of 5.1. The following year, four white women died for a maternal mortality rate of 10.4, according to the New York City Vital Statistics reports. (A chart detailing all ethnic groups' deaths and maternal mortality rates is featured in the accompanying video.)
Going beyond the data routinely gathered, New York's health department issued a report on maternal mortality in the city for the years 2001 to 2005 that provides an unprecedented level of detail about which women die and how.
The findings drew no conclusions about how to lower the high rate of maternal deaths in New York--among the highest in the nation--and among African Americans.
Get the full report and interview with Dr. Jo Bufford at Women's eNews http://www.womensenews.org/story/reproductive-health/110315/nycs-high-maternal-d...
Why is pregnancy so much more dangerous for U.S. black women?
Black women for the past five decades have consistently suffered an almost four-times greater risk of death from pregnancy complications than have white women.
The higher risks, specified in a paper published in the American Journal of Public Health, are independent of age, the number of births or education.
In 2008 22 African American women died in New York City from "pregnancy-related causes" for a maternal mortality ratio of 78.8.
Dr. Jo Ivey Bufford, president of the New York Academy of Medicine and a researcher in maternal mortality, estimates that 45 percent of these deaths are preventable.
In New York City in 2008, two white women died during pregnancy and childbirth, for a maternal mortality ratio of 5.1. The following year, four white women died for a maternal mortality rate of 10.4, according to the New York City Vital Statistics reports. (A chart detailing all ethnic groups' deaths and maternal mortality rates is featured in the accompanying video.)
Going beyond the data routinely gathered, New York's health department issued a report on maternal mortality in the city for the years 2001 to 2005 that provides an unprecedented level of detail about which women die and how.
The findings drew no conclusions about how to lower the high rate of maternal deaths in New York--among the highest in the nation--and among African Americans.
Get the full report and interview with Dr. Jo Bufford at Women's eNews http://www.womensenews.org/story/reproductive-health/110315/nycs-high-maternal-d...
