60 Minutes focuses on maternal death rate
Segment aired last night that showed problems Louisiana has
An illuminating segment on 60 Minutes showed the extent of the problem the United States has with maternal mortality. It particularly focused on Louisiana’s issues. The state has the highest number of pregnancy-related deaths in the United States.
America has a worse maternal death rate than Poland and Spain. Rural areas are the most troubled, as many women have to travel nearly an hour to an OB/GYN. These are known as maternal health deserts. Women who live there are three times more likely to die because of complications caused by pregnancy. Black women are more than four times more likely to die than white women during childbirth.
Antiabortion activists in the state have called the state “pro-birth.”
Pro-choice activists called for more support for prospective mothers both before birth and afterward.
Celebrity Christy Turlington, who has advocated on the issue, said the United States was one of eight countries that had an increasing maternal death rate.
We’re certainly at the bottom rung,” Turlington told the reporter.