Reports Suggest Public Policy Changes Could Improve Maternal Health Outcomes In N.Y.

Main Category: Pregnancy / Obstetrics
Also Included In: Obesity / Weight Loss / Fitness;  Health Insurance / Medical Insurance;  Nutrition / Diet
Article Date: 23 Jun 2010 - 3:00 PDT

email to a friend   printer friendly   opinions  

Environmental and social factors -- such poverty, obesity, lack of health insurance, and poor nutrition -- could be driving high rates of maternal mortality in New York, according to reports released on Friday by the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene and the New York Academy of Medicine, the New York Times reports.

The health department's report is considered one of the most sophisticated analyses of maternal mortality data in the U.S., according to the Times. The analysis included 161 women who had died of pregnancy-related causes from 2001 to 2005. The report found that 49% of those women were obese. Black women were more likely to be obese than other groups and were seven time more likely to die during pregnancy than white women. Hispanic and Asian women were two times more likely to die than white women.

Women who were uninsured were four times as likely to die as women who had insurance, according to the report. Mortality rates were similar among insured women covered by Medicaid and those covered by private insurance. The researchers noted that although race, obesity and poverty were strongly linked with maternal mortality rates, the report does not prove that those factors caused the deaths.

Meanwhile, NYAM's report found that in 2007, the state's maternal mortality rate was about 16 maternal deaths per 100,000 live births. By comparison, the national maternal mortality rate in 2006 was 13.3 maternal deaths per 100,000, according to the Times. A previous multiyear analysis by the National Women's Law Center ranked New York's maternal mortality rate fourth-worst among states, ahead of Maryland, New Mexico, Georgia and the District of Columbia (Hartocollis, New York Times, 6/18).

Reprinted with kind permission from http://www.nationalpartnership.org. You can view the entire Daily Women's Health Policy Report, search the archives, or sign up for email delivery here. The Daily Women's Health Policy Report is a free service of the National Partnership for Women & Families.

© 2010 National Partnership for Women & Families. All rights reserved.

• Additional
• References
• Citations