One in five U.S. mothers reported mistreatment while receiving maternity care with their most recent pregnancy, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported in a new study Tuesday.
Mothers said health care providers shouted at or scolded them, ignored requests for help or threatened that their treatment would be withheld, the Vital Signs report showed. They also said their physical privacy wasn’t protected.
Experts say it’s a staggering yet unsurprising statistic in a country that has one of the highest maternal mortality rates among its high-income peers. Maternal deaths jumped significantly during the first year of the pandemic, rising from 23.8 deaths per 100,000 live births in 2020 to 32.9 deaths in 2021. In Texas, for one, deaths among new mothers increased at least 40% between 1999 and 2019, the most recent year of available state-level data.
“What seems particularly shocking is that, in the pregnancy and postpartum period, it really is a time when women should receive respectful care,” said Dr. Wanda Barfield, director of the CDC’s Division of Reproductive Health. “I mean, everyone should receive respectful care, but it just seems like, particularly at this time, it’s so important.”
The rate of mothers reporting racial discrimination was even higher. Nearly 30% of mothers with children aged 18 or younger said they experienced discrimination during pregnancy or birth, a rate that increased to 40% when looking at Black, Hispanic and multiracial mothers. About 45% of participants in the study said they held back from asking questions or discussing concerns with their providers.
Mistreatment, discrimination and discomfort in voicing concerns with medical professionals can have dire consequences in the timely treatment of sometimes life-threatening medical conditions, as well as long-term negative effects on mental wellbeing.
“We know that poor treatment of mothers is a significant…
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