It is a worrying trend that the rates of maternal deaths or women dying in childbirth are actually rising instead of falling in the United States and the situation is worse than many other industrialized nations. Many reasons are put forward for this:
- Women giving birth are not as young and healthy as they used to be. Risk of complications rise with age and obesity. Women today are not as healthy as they used to be and doctors have not adapted their childbirth methods to accommodate these new risks.
- C sections are also responsible for more maternal deaths; whether they are performed due to a medical necessity or are elective.
- Induction of labor prior to due date (for reasons of convenience) may lead to prolonged labor and cause more bleeding. It also impacts blood clotting negatively.
- Staffing of maternal wards being inadequate in some case is also pointed out to be a problem
- According to some experts, there is also the erroneous belief that childbirth is no more dangerous than a tooth extraction and that there is complacency in the field of Obstetrics and Gynecology.
- It is conditions like Thromboembolism (blood clots that lodge in the heart or lungs), hemorrhage and preeclampsia that are the leading causes of maternal death.