A tickbox doubled the US mortality rates | Hacker News Reader

A tickbox doubled the US mortality rates

ourworldindata.org

Misleading title. Original title:

"The rise in reported maternal mortality rates in the US is largely due to a change in measurement"

The original title may be too long, but it is very misleading to leave the "reported" and "maternal" Keywords out of it. A better title would be:

"A tickbox doubled the reported US maternal mortality rates"

But why not simply shorten the original title:

"Reported US maternal mortality rates rise due to measurement change"

From the inimitable Jerusalem Demsas:

https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2024/05/no-more-wo...

Not sure why that was flagged. Comparing statistics between countries is always fraught because of different ways of measuring such statistics and I think this is a great example of how much of a difference measurement methods can make.

Burying the lede: Maternal deaths had previously been underestimated

Prior to 2003, the US appeared to have a maternal mortality rate in line with the most advanced countries in the world. As of 2020, the US is in the same range as Grenada, Malaysia, Lebanon, and Iran.

So the real headline should not how for at least two decades the US maternal mortality rate has been terrible for a supposedly advanced country.

Seems like that's literally the title: The rise in reported maternal mortality rates in the US is largely due to a change in measurement

I'd go with "Flawed measurement methods hid troublingly high US maternal mortality rates for decades"

> least two decades the US maternal mortality rate has been terrible for a supposedly advanced country.

You are making the assumption that other countries previously measured maternal mortality the way the US currently does. Given US hospitals are actually good, despite costing a lot, I find it more likely that other developed countries also underestimate maternal mortality.

And if you read the article, it actually states that

> Maternal mortality is underreported in national statistics in many countries

> You are making the assumption that other countries previously measured maternal mortality the way the US currently does.

It doesn't really matter how other countries measure. The difference between the pre-2003 reality of US maternal mortality and what was reported is still there. Eliminate the comparison with other countries and the reality remains that mothers died in childbirth in the US at a rate higher than what had been reported.

Of course, if the argument is that it's invalid to compare US maternal mortality rates to other countries, then it's also invalid to say the US maternal mortality rate was ever in line what that of other advanced countries.

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