'She Didn't Seem Right Yet': The Deadly Threat to New Mothers

[question everything]

(snip)

The rate of preeclampsia and other disorders in pregnancy related to high blood pressure more than doubled between 2007 and 2019. “It’s no longer a rare finding,” said Dr. Sadiya Khan, associate professor of medicine at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. They complicate about 1 in 7 pregnancies a year, she said.

They’re part of what’s become a crisis in healthcare for pregnant women and new mothers in America. The U.S. rate of maternal deaths is the highest among high-income nations and has risen since 2018, even excluding a spike during the Covid-19 pandemic. The rate was 22.3 deaths per 100,000 live births in 2022, up from 17.4 in 2018, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

About two-thirds of maternal deaths occur postpartum—a period researchers and doctors increasingly refer to as the “fourth trimester.” Researchers say that postpartum home visits by medical staff and guaranteed paid leave are more common in other high-income nations than in the U.S., factors that can help prevent deadly complications.

(snip)

Preeclampsia can trigger organ damage, seizures or strokes. It is sometimes thought of as temporary, but research shows that patients are at significantly higher risk of heart attacks and strokes years later. While preeclampsia’s symptoms were first described by Hippocrates around 400 B.C., making it one of the world’s oldest recognized diseases, its causes are still unknown. Some researchers believe that it is more than one disease. Treatment hasn’t changed much in 100 years.

There’s a dearth of research on postpartum complications. Researchers are starting to examine postpartum blood pressures to better understand what happens to the body right after birth, since it takes several weeks to revert to a nonpregnant state, said Eleni Tsigas, chief executive of the nonprofit Preeclampsia Foundation. “But that is a field that has gone largely ignored and needs more attention,” she said.

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[Freddie]

1. Maybe if thru weren't so quick to throw you out of the hospital after birth

My DIL had my grandson via c-section on a Sunday morning and was kicked out Tuesday morning. She and the little guy are fine but that’s just too soon, for both. I got 4 days (also section) for my son in 1990.

[slightlv]

2. I was military, had a c-section,

and didn't even get the four days. I got two. My daughter, who only weighed 3lb 3oz at birth, stayed behind in the neo-natal ward. I had preeclampsia and other issues the entire time I was pregnant. From the very first, I knew it was gonna be trouble. They didn't even have the right blood type for me! They had me as A+, and I knew I was O-. I brought that issue up right away, and they actually listed and did a blood typing on me... Definitely can make a difference! My daughter got excellent care; she wouldn't be here otherwise. Me... I could have used a bit more, IMNSHO. When I told the docs at the clinic that she stopped kicking at 7 months, I couldn't get anyone to listen to me. I had to raise holy hell... and then, because you never saw the same doctor twice, each doc had me repeating the same tests the doc from the prior two weeks had already given me!

I hadn't had any BP problems prior to getting pregnant, and it wasn't until Trump was given the presidency that my BP rose and stayed high enough to require meds. I'm still on them today...

[Freddie]

3. That's why men who want to force us to give birth against our will

Nothing on this planet makes me angrier. They cannot comprehend the issues involved in childbearing and they honestly don’t care because we’re just the vessels.

[Diamond_Dog]

4. I couldn't agree more, Freddie.

My second child was an unplanned c-section.

He was born late Thursday morning and the hospital booted me out Saturday morning. I couldn’t even stand up straight from the damn scar. Hubby went back to work Monday. I had a three year old at home as well. No nurse, nobody, ever called to check on me. I have read in some other countries your universal health insurance will provide a home helper/LPN to assist new mothers for two weeks after birth. Being a new mother in America so much of the time you’re really left on your own to figure things out. Even when you have family around like this woman in the article, things can go sideways fast and nobody knows what to do. Women, especially high risk women, belong in the hospital at least a week after giving birth. Of course the insurance companies will scream it costs too much and they have to make a profit.

On edit: I second your fury at men who think giving birth is no big deal and want to force it on us against our will when they have zero idea of the very real risks, it is trauma to a woman’s body and can seriously affect a woman’s health permanently. Those bozos really need to STFU!