Comment by arcticbull | Hacker News Reader

Comment by arcticbull | Hacker News Reader

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US maternal mortality has been among the worst in the OECD for many years - long before Roe was overturned - and the worst of any high income country.

It seems to be due to lack of access/income and race if I recall correctly. For the highest income quintile it’s roughly in line with the OECD. The lower your income the worse you do, and if you’re black the numbers are off the charts. A few years ago you were 3X more likely to die in childbirth in America than Canada, and 6X more likely than Scandinavia. Not sure the exact stack up now.

[edit] Here’s an NPR write up from 2017 [1] and 2023 [2]. And a more recent one suggesting the numbers may be overestimated in aggregate but suggests race is a huge factor, with black women 3X more likely to die in childbirth than white. Note the CDC disagrees with the idea it’s over-counting. [3] Even using the revised-down estimates America does not compare favorably to the OECD. [4]

[1] https://www.npr.org/2017/05/12/527806002/focus-on-infants-du...

[2] https://www.npr.org/2023/07/09/1186694708/u-s-maternal-death...

[3] https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2024/03/13/1238269...

[4] https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SH.STA.MMRT?locations=O...

> It seems to be due to lack of access/income and race if I recall correctly. For the highest income quintile it’s roughly in line with the OECD.

Yes higher income ppl tend to be less overweight, eat healthy food, exercise and have less life stress.

Doesn’t really align with the articles I linked saying 2/3 of the deaths occur post partum and 80% are preventable.

By the way, I actually looked into your thesis last time this came up. If you control for all that it really doesn’t change Americas rankings. There’s enough studies on the impact of obesity, etc, on maternal mortality that you can napkin it out. I don’t happen to have the work I did anymore I don’t think but by all means, you’re welcome to check. It has a meaningful effect but it by no means accounts for the delta.

If you’re going to float something like this it would be great if you shared what led you to that conclusion, as I may have missed something. Other countries that have similar levels of obesity do not have the same outcomes, or even proportional ones.

> If you’re going to float something like this it would be great if you shared what led you to that conclusion.

ok i'll add "trust me bro i looked at the data" like you.

Also better access to healthcare.

yes but thats not relevant because by the time you go the hosptial its already too late. Diseases we are talking about in this context have no medical solution.

They mothers probably benefit from being in the hospital up to the birth if they have a high risk sickness which I guess most people can't afford in the US.

> They mothers probably benefit from being in the hospital up to the birth if they have a high risk sickness

What does this even mean btw. They get admitted to hospital from point of conception? Where are you pulling this from.

If you are at risk you can be admitted to a hospital in advance. Also there are protocols like inducing labour a week early to reduce risks with too large infants. Etc.

well your guess is wrong

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