Woman’s Day USA – September 2019

WOMANSDAY.COM / SEPTEMBER 2019 81

Then, during her 35th week

of pregnancy, Stacy-Ann was

rushed in for an emergency

C-section (for problems related

to the baby, not her own health).

Shortly after she gave birth, her

shortness of breath intensified,

and the next night she felt as if

she couldn’t breathe at all. Stacy-

Ann paged a nurse, who checked

her vital signs. Moments later,

doctors flooded into the room.

Stacy-Ann was in heart failure,

with her heart operating with

just 36% of its normal function.

Instead of being by her infant’s

side in the NICU, the new mom

began motherhood in the cardiac

unit. “It took two days before I

was able to get the strength just

to be pushed in a wheelchair to

go see my daughter,” says Stacy-

Ann. “It was a very scary and

frightening time.”

THE ISSUE

Doctors acted in time to save

Stacy-Ann’s life, but her story

could easily have had a different

ending: Every year roughly

700 women die from pregnancy-

related complications in the

United States, according to a

new report from the Centers for

Disease Control and Prevention

(CDC). These deaths happen

during pregnancy, in the

delivery room, and even up to

a year after women give birth.

For black women like Stacy-Ann,

the risk is even higher: They’re

three times as likely as white

women to die from a pregnancy-

related cause.

Despite continual medical

advancements through the years,

the maternal mortality rate in the

U.S. doesn’t seem to be improving.

“We’re in 21st-century America

dealing with a 19th-century

problem,” says Jaime Herrera

Beutler, a congresswoman from

Washington who sponsored the

bipartisan Preventing Maternal

Deaths Act, which was signed into

law in December. The legislation

establishes a federal grant

program to create and support

maternal mortality review

committees, a desperately needed

resource that w ill examine why

women are dying in the hopes of

pinpointing what can be done to

prevent future deaths.

WHY IT HAPPENS

Cardiac disease and stroke are

the leading causes of maternal

death. Though it’s not surprising

that heart complications

surface during

pregnancy (blood volume

increases 30% to 50% to support

the growing baby, and as a result,

arteries dilate and heart rate

increases), experts are shocked

that young women are losing

their lives because of these

problems. “Many of these factors,

such as high blood pressure,

are treatable, yet they’re still

leaving babies without mothers,”

says Suzanne Steinbaum, D.O.,

a cardiologist and the director

of Women’s Cardiovascular

Prevention, Health and Wellness

at The Mount Sinai Hospital in

New York City.

Indeed, the CDC reports

that three out of five pregnancy-

related deaths could have been

prevented. What’s getting in

the way is a web of missed

opportunities, including access

to health care before, during, and

MAKE THAT

APPOINTMENT!

Some 2 5 % of U.S.

women don’t receive

the recommended

number of prenatal

visits.

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