Report Found Soaring Maternal Health Complications In Massachusetts

AP: Report: Severe Maternal Health Complications Nearly Doubled In Massachusetts From 2011 To 2020
Rates of severe maternal health complications nearly doubled in Massachusetts from 2011 to 2020, with Black women experiencing the highest rates of labor and delivery problems, according to a report released Wednesday by the Massachusetts Department of Public Health. (LeBlanc, 7/12)

The Boston Globe: Severe Labor And Delivery Complications In Mass. Nearly Doubled Over Past Decade, DPH Report Finds: ‘Racism — Not Race — Is The Risk Factor’
“Sobering findings continue to hammer the message that severe maternal morbidity and mortality are simply too high and the inequities baked in are not getting better over time,” said Dr. Allison Bryant, associate chief health equity officer at Mass General Brigham, who was not involved in the report. DPH researchers analyzed all 678,382 deliveries in the state between 2011 and 2020 and found that rates of severe maternal morbidity climbed from 52.3 per 10,000 deliveries in 2011 to 100.4 per 10,000 deliveries in 2020, an average increase of 8.9 percent each year.(Mohammed and Laughlin, 7/12)

In other maternal health news —

Axios: Arizona Pregnancy-Associated Deaths Quadrupled In Two Decades 
Maternal deaths are increasing in the U.S. and Arizona had one of the nation's highest pregnancy-associated death rate spikes over the past two decades, according to a new study from the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation. The report found maternal mortality rates more than doubled in the U.S. between 1999 and 2019. In the same time period, they quadrupled in Arizona. (Boehm, 7/12)

Axios: Utah's Indigenous Maternal Mortality Rate Tops Nation
The maternal death rate is higher for Indigenous Utahns than any racial group in any state, according to a new JAMA report that provides the first-ever state-level breakdowns by ethnic group. Among Indigenous Utah women who had babies in 2019, 301 of 100,000 died within a year, researchers found. (Alberty, 7/12)

The CT Mirror: Another CT Hospital Petitions To Close Its Labor And Delivery Unit
The state on Wednesday heard arguments for and against the closure of the labor and delivery unit at Johnson Memorial Hospital, one of three Connecticut hospitals proposing cuts to birthing services. Executives of the Stafford-based hospital cited low patient volume and difficulty recruiting staff as reasons for their request, echoing arguments presented by leaders at other facilities seeking permission to do the same. (Golvala, 7/12)

Modern Healthcare: Cedars-Sinai Civil Rights Investigation Launched By HHS
The Health and Human Services Department is investigating Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles for civil rights violations related to its maternal health services, the regulator confirmed Wednesday. “Maternal health is a priority for the Biden-Harris administration and one in which the HHS Office for Civil Rights is working on around the country to ensure equity and equality in healthcare,” a spokesperson wrote in an email. HHS declined to provide further details on the ongoing investigation, which the Los Angeles Times first reported Tuesday. (Hartnett, 7/12)

Meanwhile, in Canada —

AP: Indigenous Women In Canada Forcibly Sterilized Decades After Other Rich Countries Stopped
Decades after many other rich countries stopped forcibly sterilizing Indigenous women, numerous activists, doctors, politicians and at least five class-action lawsuits say the practice has not ended in Canada. A Senate report last year concluded “this horrific practice is not confined to the past, but clearly is continuing today.” In May, a doctor was penalized for forcibly sterilizing an Indigenous woman in 2019. (Cheng, 7/12)