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Also a reminder that at least a few years ago, the US had the highest maternal mortality rate in the entire OECD against a standardized metric. Like, by a count

Also a reminder that at least a few years ago, the US had the highest maternal mortality rate in the entire OECD against a standardized metric. Like, by a country mile. [1] > Among 11 developed countries, the United States has the highest maternal mortality rate, a relative undersupply of maternity care providers, and is the only country not to guarantee access to provider home visits or paid parental leave in the postpartum period. > Women in the U.S. are the most likely to die from complications related to pregnancy or childbirth. [edit] NPR did a thing on it in 2017 too. [2] In 2015 you were 7X as likely to die as a mother in the US as compared to Finland (and 4X Canada) - and while the rest of the world saw dropping numbers, the US saw accelerating increases. And for every woman who dies in childbirth in the US 70 come close. [1] https://www.commonwealthfund.org/publications/issue-briefs/2020/nov/maternal-mortality-maternity-care-us-compared-10-countries https://www.commonwealthfund.org/publications/issue-briefs/2... [2] https://www.npr.org/series/543928389/lost-mothers https://www.npr.org/series/543928389/lost-mothers

pitaj 4y ago
> by a country mile. For reference (so someone doesn't have to click through): 17.4 per 100,000 vs the two closest: France at 8.7 and Canada at 8.6 Does that account for the far higher proportion of people living in rural areas in the US? What about obesity, ethnicity, etc?
- pchristensen 4y ago
  The USA has about 20-30% of the population that's structurally poor, an artifact of slavery and oppression, but also the wider variety of governmental structures, economic concentrations, and cultures in different states and regions. This shows up in incomes, health statistics, crime, life expectancy, educational outcomes, etc. Probably the most drastic is the difference between coastal California (the richest region in the country) and rural California (would be the poorest state) - see this for more details - https://astralcodexten.substack.com/p/why-is-the-central-valley-so-bad https://astralcodexten.substack.com/p/why-is-the-central-val.... Every place has its economically disadvantaged, but America's poor seem to be more neglected and left behind than in other countries. A lot of other rich countries have better aggregate numbers because they bottom quartile is not as low.
  - pitaj 4y ago
    The reason I brought up rural specifically is because a lot of people in the US live hours away from the nearest hospital - of course unpredictable things like childbirth will not go as well if you don't have access to a hospital.
    - pchristensen 4y ago
      USA isn't particularly rural - https://worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/most-urbanized-countries https://worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/most-urba... More urbanized than France, Spain, Canada, Taiwan, Switzerland, Italy, etc.
      - tzs 4y ago
        Looking at a few maps, it looks like the average distance from rural places to the nearest urban place is smaller in most of those countries than it is in the US. They may have a higher percentage of their populations in rural areas, but the US may have a higher percentage of its population far away from urban medical care.
- magicalist 4y ago
  > Does that account for the far higher proportion of people living in rural areas in the US? The rate seems about the same as France and Canada? https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.RUR.TOTL.ZS?contextual=default&locations=FR-US-CA https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.RUR.TOTL.ZS?contextu...

pitaj 4y ago

> by a country mile. For reference (so someone doesn't have to click through): 17.4 per 100,000 vs the two closest: France at 8.7 and Canada at 8.6 Does that account for the far higher proportion of people living in rural areas in the US? What about obesity, ethnicity, etc?

pchristensen 4y ago
The USA has about 20-30% of the population that's structurally poor, an artifact of slavery and oppression, but also the wider variety of governmental structures, economic concentrations, and cultures in different states and regions. This shows up in incomes, health statistics, crime, life expectancy, educational outcomes, etc. Probably the most drastic is the difference between coastal California (the richest region in the country) and rural California (would be the poorest state) - see this for more details - https://astralcodexten.substack.com/p/why-is-the-central-valley-so-bad https://astralcodexten.substack.com/p/why-is-the-central-val.... Every place has its economically disadvantaged, but America's poor seem to be more neglected and left behind than in other countries. A lot of other rich countries have better aggregate numbers because they bottom quartile is not as low.
- pitaj 4y ago
  The reason I brought up rural specifically is because a lot of people in the US live hours away from the nearest hospital - of course unpredictable things like childbirth will not go as well if you don't have access to a hospital.
  - pchristensen 4y ago
    USA isn't particularly rural - https://worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/most-urbanized-countries https://worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/most-urba... More urbanized than France, Spain, Canada, Taiwan, Switzerland, Italy, etc.
    - tzs 4y ago
      Looking at a few maps, it looks like the average distance from rural places to the nearest urban place is smaller in most of those countries than it is in the US. They may have a higher percentage of their populations in rural areas, but the US may have a higher percentage of its population far away from urban medical care.
magicalist 4y ago
> Does that account for the far higher proportion of people living in rural areas in the US? The rate seems about the same as France and Canada? https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.RUR.TOTL.ZS?contextual=default&locations=FR-US-CA https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.RUR.TOTL.ZS?contextu...