Teen Births,Obesity & Infant Mortality

U.S. Ranks Low On Newborn Survival

Report Finds One Of Highest Infant Death Rates Among Developed Nations


The report, which was released Monday, also said a lack of national health insurance and short maternity leaves likely contribute to the poor U.S. rankings.

Other possible factors in the U.S. include teen pregnancies and obesity rates, which both disproportionately affect African-American women and also increase risk for premature births and low birth weights.

Among U.S. blacks, there are 9 deaths per 1,000 live births, closer to rates in developing nations than to those in the industrialized world.

In the analysis of global infant mortality, Japan had the lowest newborn death rate, 1.8 per 1,000 and four countries tied for second place with 2 per 1,000 — the Czech Republic, Finland, Iceland and Norway.

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I'am sure the need for a Universal healthcare system and it's role in this can be debated,but it seems that America's long time high rate of both teen pregnancies and obesity seem to be the main contributors to it's problem. Until these two things are reduced I don't think we will see the decrease in infant mortality that we want. Japan as pointed out,has the lowest infant mortality rate,but Japan also has the lowest teen preganacy rate and I'll assume a low obesity rate which plays a part in keeping it's mortality rates low.

 

other studies show that it is actually the hospital model of maternal care and childbirth practices that makes the US rank so low in maternal and neonatal mortality rates. If you go to the CDC and WHO websites, you can find the actual number and studies that show that in most cases, complications during childbirth in developed nations are usually a direct result of interventions and things doctors do to them in the hospital. Countries with higher rates of midwife-attended births have fewer deaths. Technology is not saving lives, the opposite is true.

 

Have medical malpractice suites increased along with this?


I would think that if bad medical care on the part of doctors was contributing to many of these infants dying then there would be alot of doctors being sued.

 

You can't really link a lack of nationalized medical coverage to this problem. When you're young (25 or under) health complications are rarely a condition that these folks have to deal with. The real problem is diet and self-control. You can say these things are somewhat linked and they are. Our kids AREN'T alright. It's not due to the privatized health care, it's because of excess and lack of parenting. Being a new mom requires alot of research, lifestyle changes such as diet, excercise, and intoxicant avoidance. You think kids who are endulging themselves with food, drugs and sex are going to listen to anybody about this stuff? If they did they wouldn't have become pregnant and overweight in the first place.

 

oh, no. doctors get sued more when they do nothing. When they do something and it results in problems, it's apparently not as bad as when they do nothing and something bad happens (plus, they never admit that what they did was what caused the problems, even when it's obviously so). That's why it's near impossible to have a vbac anymore....