Hospital health care quality plummets: Risk of severe complications during hospital childbirth up 75 percent from decade ago

Saturday, October 27, 2012 by: Jonathan Benson, staff writer
Tags: hospitals, childbirth complications, medical errors

(NaturalNews) New data released as part of a U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) study on pregnant women has found that delivery complications are on the rise among women who give birth at American hospitals. According to the figures, the number of women who experience heart attacks, strokes, severe bleeding, kidney failure, or death during or following hospital childbirth is up 75 percent, which suggests that either human health or hospital safety -- or both -- are on the decline.

In 1998, roughly 74 out of every 10,000 women who gave birth at a U.S. hospital had such complications. But between 2008 and 2009, that figure jumped to 129 out of every 10,000 women, or 75 percent higher, according to the CDC figures. Similarly, the number of women who experienced post-delivery complications in 1998 was about 14 out of every 10,000. Today, that number has jumped 114 percent to 29 cases out of every 10,000.

While the overall number of women who experienced hospital birth complications is relatively low -- just over one percent of hospital births in America result in severe complications -- the dramatic rise percentage-wise is concerning to many, especially because the CDC did not provide any specifics as to why this increase might be occurring. Some sources; however, claim the causes include more older women having children, more pregnant women being obese, and an overall increase in existing health problems among pregnant women.

Filthy hospitals, incompetent staff also linked to pregnancy complications

Other potential causes of the rise in childbirth complications include filthy hospitals and incompetent medical staff, both of which are becoming increasingly prevalent across the U.S. Drug-resistant "superbugs" have become progressively worse over the past decade, and many hospital rooms and their respective equipment and surgical tools have become breeding grounds for these deadly offenders. (https://www.naturalnews.com/026587_infections_infection_superbug.html)

Major medical errors made by doctors and hospital staff during and after childbirth are also increasingly problematic. Negligent prenatal care, for instance, which often includes failure by medical staff to properly assess medical conditions of birth defects, puts both mother and baby at serious risk. Other errors during the childbirth process include improper assessment of complications that arise due to a baby's size or position, or failure to order a cesarean section when one is needed. (https://www.naturalnews.com/036279_hospital_births_risk_injury.html)

To avoid these potential instances of serious medical malpractice, many expectant mothers are now choosing to have a natural childbirth at home. Not only are midwives typically far more tuned in to the specific needs of the pregnant woman who they are assisting, but they also tend to avoid opting for unnecessary drug and surgical interventions except as a last resort in extreme situations.

Sources for this article include:

http://www.reuters.com