Maternal Mortality on the Rise

It was only a matter of time before the statistics showed the effects of the dramatic increase in cesarean surgery rates. We have long known that one of the risks of major abdominal surgery is maternal morbidity and mortality. It was only a matter of time before the increased cesarean rate bode through to the sad fact that more mothers were dying because of it. CP reports:

U.S. women are dying from childbirth at the highest rate in decades, new government figures show. Though the risk of death is very small, experts believe increasing maternal obesity and a jump in caesarean sections are partly to blame.

The U.S. maternal mortality rate rose to 13 deaths per 100,000 live births in 2004, according to statistics released this week by the National Center for Health Statistics - the first time the maternal death rate rose above 10 since 1977.

"There's an inherent risk to C-sections," said Dr. Elliott Main, who co-chairs a panel reviewing obstetrics care in California. "As you do thousands and thousands of them, there's going to be a price."

Excessive bleeding is one of the leading causes of pregnancy-related death, and women with several previous C-sections are at especially high risk, according to a review of maternal deaths in New York. Blood vessel blockages and infections are among the other leading causes.