Merit Street Media
Wednesday, September 18, 2024
Season 1 | Episode 92
America is home to the greatest medical advances in the world and yet we are the First World country where a woman is most likely to die in childbirth.
Mothers are dying at alarming rates during or shortly after labor. According to CDC, the black maternal mortality rate is 69.9 deaths per 100 thousand live births. Black women are 3 times more likely to die than white patients. The U.S. also recently had the largest increase in two decades for infant deaths. Another shocking statistic, the U.S. is rated first in healthcare costs but last in performance. We’ll hear heartbreaking stories of families who lost a loved one due to labor complications and a mother who lost her baby boy at just 11 weeks old. These families feel failed by our medial system which they say is broken. They complain there’s a shortage of healthcare staff who are overworked and rush to release patients without proper care. Health experts weigh in on factors impacting the labor and delivery and infant care crisis as well as how to lessen the risk of SIDS.
