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Pregnancy-related Deaths Nearly Doubled in Texas

by Julia Samuel on Aug 22 2016 8:07 PM

Pregnancy-related Deaths Nearly Doubled in Texas
In the past five years Texas has seen a dramatic increase in the number of women who died from pregnancy-related causes, according to a new study.
The Texas Tribune reports the state's rate of maternal mortality nearly doubled between 2010 and 2014.

Although maternal mortality rates are up nationwide, no other state experienced such a sharp rise, according to research published by the medical journal "Obstetrics and Gynecology.

The study mentioned "changes to the provision of women's health services" - a reference to cuts made by state lawmakers in 2011 that stripped funding from Planned Parenthood and other women's health and family planning services - but the researchers stopped short of saying whether that policy change had any effect on the numbers.

The researchers found that between 2000 and 2010, the lone star state saw only a "modest increase" in maternal mortality, from 17.7 to 18.6 deaths per 100,000 live births.

The next year, Texas' rate spiked, to 33 deaths per 100,000 live births, reaching "levels not seen in other U.S. states," according to the study. That stood in sharp contrast with California, a state with a comparable population that has seen a steady decline in its maternal mortality rate over the last decade.

In 2012, 148 women in Texas died from pregnancy-related complications, including excessive bleeding, obesity-related heart problems and infection. Two years before, 72 women died from those causes.

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The study examined maternal mortality rates across the country, and researchers said they could not explain the specific, sudden growth in the number of deaths in Texas.



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Source-Medindia


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