Opinion: Unsettling truths about maternal mortality in the U.S.
Grave warnings of a crisis in maternal deaths are being slightly eroded by articles suggesting that advocates overreached and that the “crisis” was primarily a function of measurement error.
Both sides are partially right, because measuring maternal mortality is uniquely challenging. The question at the heart of identifying a maternal death — “Would this person have died if she hadn’t been pregnant?” — often can’t be answered simply from a medical record. In medical emergencies that occur during birth, such as unstoppable bleeding, the decision is straightforward. The answer in a death that occurs several months after giving birth, like was a stroke or opioid overdose related to the pregnancy, is a challenging judgment call and honest people can disagree.
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