After celebrating our mothers on Sunday, we should take a good look at what our government is doing to protect maternal health.
Maternal mortality, the death of a woman due to complications in pregnancy or childbirth, is primarily a problem in the developing world, but preventable deaths still occur in the U.S. The maternal mortality ratio is higher in the United States than 49 other countries. A nation that boasts such great technological advances in health care and standard of living should not be a more dangerous place for a woman to be pregnant than 25 percent of the world’s countries.
In the U.S., the maternal mortality rate among black women is almost four times the rate of white women. Amnesty International has identified the obstacles some women face obtaining adequate maternal health care in the U.S. as including discrimination, language barriers and financial barriers. Race and poverty are obviously two major determinates of safety in pregnancy.
Even though this is a prevalent issue, it often doesn’t get the attention it deserves. This seems to follow the trend of mothers not being as appreciated as they should until Mother’s Day rolls around—I think many students would agree with that. It is time for us to make mothers a priority.
more . . .
http://www.kansan.com/news/2011/may/11/cosby-pre-natal-care-not-privilege-its-right/?opinion