Eugene Declercq

2 weeks ago | commonwealthfund.org | Eugene Declercq |Marie E Thoma |Pooja Mehta |Laurie Zephyrin

At first glance, maternal deaths might appear to be a straightforward issue to quantify and measure. Deaths occurring at the time of birth in a hospital as a result of conditions clearly related to delivery, such as postpartum hemorrhage, are easy to classify as pregnancy-related.

Nov 11, 2024 | onlinelibrary.wiley.com | Teresa Janevic |Eugene Declercq

• , , , et al. Maternal mortality in the United States: are the high and rising rates due to changes in obstetrical factors, maternal medical conditions, or maternal mortality surveillance? Am J Obstet Gynecol. ; ( ): - . • , . Study says U.S. maternal death rate crisis is really a case of bad data . Washington Post. 2024. Accessed April 19, 2024. https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2024/03/13/maternal-mortality-study/• , , .

Jul 12, 2024 | statnews.com | Eugene Declercq

Grave warnings of a crisis in maternal deaths are being slightly eroded by articles suggesting that advocates overreached and that the “crisis” was primarily a function of measurement error. Both sides are partially right, because measuring maternal mortality is uniquely challenging. The question at the heart of identifying a maternal death — “Would this person have died if she hadn’t been pregnant?” — often can’t be answered simply from a medical record.

Jan 29, 2024 | healthaffairs.org | Eugene Declercq |Neel Shah

The National Center for Health Statistics recently released complete birth data and provisional maternal and infant mortality data from 2022—the first data reflecting the aftermath of the initial three waves of COVID-19 in the United States. The emerging trends suggest sustained inequities in maternal and infant outcomes amid substantial shifts in the way people are giving birth as well as who is giving birth. We pose and answer five policy-related questions that arise from the data release. 1.