Administration Asked To Focus On High Maternal Mortality Rates That Make U.S. Outlier Among Developed Countries
The Trump administration is being pressed by a group of bipartisan senators "to review existing data and provide us with recommendations about what can be done at the federal, state and local levels to reduce mortality and improve health outcomes for all mothers and their children, regardless of their racial and ethnic background, income level or educational attainment."
The Hill:
Bipartisan Group Of Senators Ask Trump To Increase Focus On Maternal Deaths
A bipartisan group of Senators on Tuesday asked the Trump administration to focus more on reducing deaths caused by pregnancy complications. The 14 senators, led by Tom Carper (D-Del.), Bill Nelson (D-Fla.), Tim Scott (R-S.C.) and Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.), wrote to Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar asking that the agency "focus on strategies to reduce maternal mortality rates in the United States." (Hellmann, 10/9)
In other maternal health news —
The New York Times:
Vigorous Exercise, Even A Trek Up Everest, May Be Safe During Pregnancy
Female athletes seem to be able to exercise safely and intensively both before and during pregnancy without increasing their risk for birth-related complications, even if they are trekking up Mount Everest, according to two eye-opening new studies. Together, the new research undercuts widely held beliefs about strenuous physical training and pregnancy. (Reynolds, 10/10)
NPR:
Don't Delay After Dilation To Push Baby Out
If you're a first-time mother and you opt for epidural anesthesia during labor, your doctor may suggest you wait about an hour after your cervix is completely dilated before you start trying to push the baby down the birth canal. But a study published Tuesday in JAMA, the flagship journal of the American Medical Association, suggests that might not be the best advice. (Neighmond, 10/9)
The New York Times:
A Suicidal Nanny, An Underground Industry And 3 Babies Stabbed
Dark circles formed like warning signs beneath Yu Fen Wang’s eyes as she worked 12-hour graveyard shifts in a Queens maternity center that operated on the margins of legality. Her family said she had grown gaunt, could not sleep and told her husband she no longer wanted to live. (Robbins and Goldbaum, 10/10)
