Happy Mother’s Day! I don’t normally write about pregnancy, but I feel compelled to address the fact that more U.S. women are dying from pregnancy-related causes. According to Dr. Neel Shah, a Harvard Medical School obstetrician, an American mother today is 50% more likely to die in childbirth than her own mother was.  Possible reasons include the high rate of C-sections, high blood pressure which can lead to preeclampsia, diabetes, and obesity. Although these deaths are rare, there are about 700 of them each year and according to the CDC (centers for disease control) more than half of them are preventable.

I taught the Bradley Method of Natural Childbirth thirty years ago. Back then, I warned my students that there was a possibility that their doctor might want to schedule a delivery around a vacation or tee time. I taught ways to have the healthiest outcome possible with the least amount of intervention.

Here we are three decades later and the percentage of C-sections has nearly doubled globally since to 2000, according to a study published in The Lancet, Oct. 13, 2018. In the U.S. 32% of all babies are now delivered by C-section.

Globally, maternal mortality fell about 44% between 1990 and 2016, according to the World Health Organization. That’s good news. But in the U.S., 17 out of every 100,000 new moms die. That’s up from 12 per 100,000 25 years ago. And black women in the U.S. are three times as likely to die from a pregnancy-related health issues than others. This could be due to lack of medical care, racial bias, and/or poor health to begin with (high blood pressure, etc.).

If you or a loved one is pregnant or plans to get pregnant

• Please see a physician as soon as you suspect you are pregnant in order to get the best medical care possible.
• Get a comprehensive heart-risk evaluation 12 weeks after delivery.
• Eat a healthy, whole-foods diet and monitor you salt and sugar intake.
• Practice a stress-reducing technique such as yoga, deep breathing, meditation.
• Take a birth preparation class—these are usually offered at hospitals throughout the county.
• Practice a relaxation birth technique with the person who will be your support during delivery and labor.
• Keep your fitness up or strive to improve it. Walk or swim.

There are many articles posted on this blog on ways to reduce stress, eat well, and exercise. Even though many of them pertain to caregivers, there’s a lot of general information that applies to everyone.

Best wishes for a Happy Mother’s Day, a happy pregnancy, and a happy baby!