Maternal Death Rates in The 20th Century
The death rate for women giving birth plummeted in the 20th century.
The historical level of maternal deaths is probably around 1 in 100 births. Mortality rates reached very high levels in maternity institutions in the 1800s, sometimes climbing to 40 percent of birthgiving women (see Historical mortality rates of puerperal fever). At the beginning of the 1900s, maternal death rates were around 1 in 100 for live births. The number in 2005 in the United States was 11 in 100,000, a decline by two orders of magnitude, although that figure has begun to rise in recent years, having nearly tripled over the decade up to 2010 in California. A maternal mortality rate for the U.S. of 24 per 100,000 was reported for 2008. This change might not actually reflect an increase, due to a change in reporting methods by the CDC in 1999.
The decline in maternal deaths has been due largely to improved asepsis, fluid management and blood transfusion, and better prenatal care. Recommendations for reducing maternal mortality include access to health care, access to family planning services, and emergency obstetric care, funding and intrapartum care. Reduction in unnecessary obstetric surgery has also been suggested.
Read more about this topic: Maternal Death
Famous quotes containing the words maternal, death, rates and/or century:
“Recent studies that have investigated maternal satisfaction have found this to be a better prediction of mother-child interaction than work status alone. More important for the overall quality of interaction with their children than simply whether the mother works or not, these studies suggest, is how satisfied the mother is with her role as worker or homemaker. Satisfied women are consistently more warm, involved, playful, stimulating and effective with their children than unsatisfied women.”
—Alison Clarke-Stewart (20th century)
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The heartache and the thousand natural shocks
That flesh is heir to—’tis a consummation
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To sleep, perchance to dream. Ay, there’s the rub,
For in that sleep of death what dreams may come
When we have shuffled off this mortal coil
Must give us pause.”
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616)
“Families suffered badly under industrialization, but they survived, and the lives of men, women, and children improved. Children, once marginal and exploited figures, have moved to a position of greater protection and respect,... The historic decline in the overall death rates for children is an astonishing social fact, notwithstanding the disgraceful infant mortality figures for the poor and minorities. Like the decline in death from childbirth for women, this is a stunning achievement.”
—Joseph Featherstone (20th century)
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—Aldous Huxley (1894–1963)