The United States has the highest maternal mortality rates within developed countries. Does the lack of attention or the lack of access to healthcare cause maternal deaths within the United States? Maternal patients make their best argument for the cause of maternal mortality rates within the United States when they say, mothers lack attention during childbirth.
Proponents believe that there is a greater focus on fetal and infant safety during childbirth than on the mother’s health. According to ProPublica and NPR's reporting, there has been a great emphasize of fetal care as an assumption has been made over the years that maternal mortality has been conquered. Barbara Levy, a member of Council on Patient Safety in Women's Health Care, stated that during childbirth they worry a lot about the little babies because they’re vulnerable. “Meanwhile, we don't pay enough attention to those things that can be catastrophic for women,"(Barbara Levy) which shows that the mothers during childbirth are at risk as not enough attention is provided to them because doctors and nurse believe the baby is more vulnerable.
Mothers lack
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Lauren Bloomstein, a neonatal nurse and her husband, a doctor were expecting a girl on September 30th 2011. On that day the couple drove down to Monmouth Medical Center, where she had spent her entire career. Lauren figured that, “If anyone would watch out for her and her baby...it would be the doctors and nurses she worked with on a daily basis.” Her deliver went great, but 90 minutes later she told her husband she wasn’t feeling well. After twenty hours of delivering her baby, she was dead. Her husband stated, “Lauren's ob/gyn and nurses had failed to recognize a textbook case of one of the most common complications of pregnancy — not once, but repeatedly over two days,” showing how the lack of attention Lauren received caused her
She decided to tackle the health problems of a small area of few roads and no physicians, called Leslie County in Eastern Kentucky. Here she tested to her health care plans, thinking that if she succeed here, she could succeed anywhere. Horse backing around Leslie County, she asked residents about health care needs and local lay-midwives about birth practices. The results from her surveys revealed that these nursing mothers were lacking prenatal care and that they were giving birth to large quantities of children often by invasive practice.
First, I will give out some statistics of infant mortality rates in America. According to an Amnesty International report, two maternal deaths occur every day for African-American women. Even though 99% of birth-related deaths happen in developing countries, these numbers for African American women in a country with world renowned health facilities are discouraging.
Neonatal nursing is a field of nursing designed especially for both newborns and infants up to 28 days old. The term neonatal comes from neo, "new", and natal, "pertaining to birth or origin”. Neonatal nurses are a vital part of the neonatal care team. These are trained professionals who concentrate on ensuring that the newborn infants under their care are able to survive whatever potential life threatening event they encounter. They treat infants that are born with a variety of life threatening issues that include instances of prematurity, congenital birth defects, surgery related problems, cardiac malformations, severe burns, or acute infection. Neonatal care in hospitals was always done by the nursing staff but it did not officially become a specialized medical field until well into 1960s. This was due to the numerous advancements in both medical care training and related technology that allowed for the improved treatment and survival rate of premature babies. According to the March of Dimes, one of every thirteen babies born in the United States annually suffers from low birth weight. This is a leading cause in 65% of infant deaths. Therefore, nurses play a very important role in providing round the clock care for these infants, those born with birth defects or other life threatening illness. In addition, these nurses also tend to healthy babies while their mothers recover from the birthing process. Prior to the advent of this specialized nursing field at risk newborn infants were mostly cared for by obstetricians and midwives who had limited resources to help them survive (Meeks 3).
Cook, Selig, Wedge, and Gohn-Baube (1999) stated that an essential part of the country’s public health agenda is to improve access to prenatal care, particularly for economically disadvantaged women. I agree with this statement because access to care is very important for the outcome of a healthy mother and child. Improving access to prenatal care for disadvantaged women will not only save lives but also lighten the high financial, social, and emotional costs of caring for low weight babies. Some of the barriers that these women face are mainly structural where the availability of care is limited; the cost of care is a financial burden; and the time to seek care is problematic due to being single mothers working more than one job (Lia-Hoagberb, 1990). Additionally, there is the issue of prenatal care being delivered differently depending on one’s race. A study found that White mothers delivering ve...
Birth is a normal, physiological process, in which a woman’s body naturally prepares to expel the fetus within. It has occurred since the beginning of time. Unfortunately, childbirth has gradually evolved into what it is today - a highly managed whirlwind of unwarranted interventions. Jennifer Block, a journalist with over twelve years experience, has devoted herself to raising awareness regarding the authenticity of the Americanized standard of care in obstetrics, while guiding others to discover the truth behind the medical approach to birth in this country. In her book, Pushed: The Painful Truth About Childbirth and Modern Maternity Care, Jennifer Block brings forth startling truths concerning this country’s management of birth.
Statistics show the impact that preemies are causing as the rate of preterm birth increases every day. Any part of the world is affected no matter how advanced they are in technology. “One of every eight infants born in the United States is premature babies” (Medline Plus). These statistics are extremely high, however people can change it by getting involved in the community and helping preemies have a less chance to lose in their battle for life. In 2003; 499,008 infants were born prematurely (National Center for Health Statistics). The rates of preterm births have increased over the years. "In 1995: 11.0% of live births were born preterm, In 2006: 12.8% of live births were born preterm"(March of Dimes-Peristats). As the numbers keep increasing, many families are suffering and losing hope for they’re babies. African American women have the highest rate of preterm birth in 2004 with a 17.6% (Reedy, 2007). These statistics demonstrate the high frequenc...
It is important to understand what women commonly experience during pregnancy. With a better understanding of what happens during prenatal development and childbirth, physicians can competently develop the best plan for the mother and baby. I interviewed two women who have been previously pregnant in order to evaluate how the ideas in the book translate into real-life experiences.
Every eight seconds a baby is born in the United Sates (U.S.), and within one hour four babies die (1). The infant mortality rate (IMR) measures the rate at which babies die before their first birthday and is calculated per 1,000 live births. According to government figures 7.2 babies out of every 1,000 born in 1996 died (2, p 6). Although this figure declines steadily each year and is 406% lower than the 1950 figure (3) the United States IMR is still higher than twenty four other nations (1). More importantly, the IMR for black U.S. citizens is over twice the rate of white citizens (6.3 and 14.6 respectively) (4, p 9). The National Commission to Prevent Infant Mortality even calls some regions "disaster areas" (5, p 18). What are the leading causes of infant death, and what areas within the United States are most affected? What preventative measures can ensure a child its first birthday? These questions are addressed herein. In addition, certain National Standards for Geography are met.
I overcame two major barriers as I worked toward my goal, my father’s opinion about appropriate careers for women and my lack of English. I grew up in a village where the nearest doctor was three hours away. When I was eight years old, I was surprised by my aunt’s pregnancy and intrigued to learn more about pregnancy and fetal development.
She was a 24-week-old premature infant. I had never seen anything so fragile yet so resilient in my life. Every time she took a breath her lungs would completely collapse. To inhale, she had to pull everything up from on her back, out from her rib cage, and inflate her lungs. She was a powerhouse! Instinctively doing everything she could to stay alive. She died hours later. She was the youngest and smallest infant ever to be born alive at Vanderbilt Children’s Hospital.We will never know her full potential, and the loss of the opportunity for someone to become an asset to society is something that I cannot tolerate. Thus, my desire to become a neonatologist was affirmed.
For one woman, this vision of childbirth is not the norm. Ana Rhodes is a midwife, and she is one of the only birth attendants available to...
This inductive thematic analysis of new motherhood and online social networking usage produced a conceptual framework (Table 1) that features the 5 primary themes that were established as most significant. These were adjustment to change, achieving self-validation, ability to prioritise, experiencing a lowered self-esteem, and extending understanding and skills. These varied outcomes appear to have taken effect on the women during the transition to motherhood, subsequently influencing their use of online social networking sites. Change Requirement to change was the most commonly cited theme when understanding the experience of new motherhood and social media use. All of the mothers discussed that it was necessary for them to change as a means of adapting to becoming new parents.
To complete my labor and delivery rotation for NUR-113, I was assigned to a client in the labor and delivery unit and followed her labor process throughout the duration of my shift, I observed the nurse’s role, doctor’s role, medications given, the patient, the patient’s family and evaluated myself. The client that the RN was assisting was a 21 year old, white unmarried female with O+ blood, at the end of my shift she gave birth to a beautiful baby boy after a few complications during the labor process. Gravida 1, Preterm births 0, Term births 0, Abortions 0, Living Children 1, after the birth ...
This week’s clinical experience has been unlike any other. I went onto the unit knowing that I needed to be more independent and found myself to be both scared and intimidated. However, having the patients I did made my first mother baby clinical an exciting experience. I was able to create connections between what I saw on the unit and the theory we learned in lectures. In addition, I was able to see tricks other nurses on the unit have when providing care, and where others went wrong. Being aware of this enabled me to see the areas of mother baby nursing I understood and areas I need to further research to become a better nurse.
Introduction: After a steady decline in maternal and perinatal mortality rates, childbirth has become a more significant experience for women. 2 In fact, pregnancy and childbirth are normal physiological processes, and an important and exciting occurrence in the life of many women and their families.3 Overall, for some women, childbirth is a positive and valuable experience; however, for others, it can be considered as a negative experience.3, 4 It is worth noting that culture is one of the factors that can affect the experience of childbearing and motherhood; hence, women from different cultural backgrounds may share a different experience in this regard.5 In Iranian religious and cultural norms, childbearing is considered as a valuable occasion and it is regarded as