A new study indicates that two times as many pregnancies or recently pregnant women passed away in 2021 when compared with previous years. The data provides more detail on the mortality of mothers at a time where the governor. Mike Dunleavy has proposed increasing Medicaid coverage for pregnant women.
It is believed that the Alaska Maternal Child Death Review that authored this study believes a lot of the deaths are preventable. This MCDR is a federally-funded program that examines the causes contributing to the birth, pregnancy and infant deaths. The program also provides suggestions to avoid these types of deaths over the long-term.
The causes of preventable deaths vary, but they are all due to a variety of reasons, including access to healthcare. The highest number of deaths related to pregnancy occurred in the rural regions of Alaska where many people seeking medical attention were unable to obtain the services.
“There were health-related demands that these women had that they couldn’t have access to Some of them were suffering from chronic diseases,” said Melissa Bradley an epidemiologist with the MCDR.
Although the mortality rate overall has nearly doubled the experts suggest that the figures may not tell the complete picture. The majority of deaths might be related in the context of the pandemic COVID-19. Furthermore, the small number of deaths makes impossible to make any conclusions. The study focused on pregnancy-related deaths over a five-year span between 2017 and 2021.
Factors such as the impact of interpersonal violence (IPV) and mental health issues, substance abuse and the absence of health services contributed to the increase in mortality of mothers in Alaskans and the reasons for which are multifaceted, as per the MCDR.
“Social as well as … financial risk elements do make people more vulnerable,” said Margaret Young Margaret Young, director of the Maternal Child Health Epidemiology Unit director for the Alaska Department of Health. She also spoke about the commonality of past trauma as a risk factor for mortality among mothers since it is closely connected to IPV. When they died in the 2021s, more than 50% had experienced violent interpersonal interactions.
Alaska isn’t the only state to experience an increase in the number of maternal deaths. The other states also witnessed an increase in pregnancies-related deaths between 2018 and 2020.
Although the death rate of Alaska mothers is too high however, the MCDR hopes that its suggestions to reduce the number of deaths that could be prevented aid in reducing the maternal mortality rate within the state.
Some of the recommendations offered in the MCDR include urging more screening programs to identify potential victims of violence in the workplace and homicide, which were the causes leading to the deaths of Alaska mothers in 2021. Bradley stated that education on strangulation for health professionals can aid in identifying those who are at risk of a preventable death. Bradley also highlighted the importance of local healthcare professionals such as doulas and community birth workers who could be able provide more responsible and culturally sensitive care to aid in reducing the rate in maternal mortality.
Bradley is optimistic about how she believes the MCDR is working to reduce the rate of maternal mortality across the country. “They’ve been extremely concentrated on raising awareness and disseminating information , as and implementing those recommendations into concrete outcomes,” she said.
This article first appeared in Alaska Beacon and is republished here with permission.
