#maternal-mortality

#maternal-mortality

The city has created a so-called "stress-free zone" in a low-income Brooklyn neighborhood where new parents can get everything from free massages to mental-health screenings to combat maternal mortality. Brownsville's "Neighborhood Stress-Free Zone" pilot - located at the Department of Health's Neighborhood Health Action Center Family Wellness Suite - opened in September to combat a deeply disturbing increase in the rate, which has been fueled by overdoses and suicides, officials said.

The 39-year-old had been told she would have to give birth to her stillborn daughter, who was called Olivia, and was given medication to bring on the labour. Within hours Jacqui was having intense contractions and at one point slumped into the arms of her husband, Lori Quate, who thought she had fainted. As staff at Ninewells Hospital rushed to help her, she suffered a cardiac arrest.

It was one of the most horrifying targets of Russia's war on Ukraine so far. Reports showed a pregnant woman on a stretcher, her face ashen with shock, legs smeared with blood and a hand holding her bump. Behind her, the bombed-out ruins of Mariupol's maternity hospital. More than a dozen people, including women in labour, were injured in the attack in March 2022. The woman photographed, Iryna Kalinina, later died along with her unborn baby.

Preeclampsia is a significant cause of death for mothers and newborns, with no known causes or cures, leading to immense suffering and loss.

Since the Dobbs decision in June 2022, the number of abortions in the US has risen, alongside increased support for reproductive rights and a surge in voluntary sterilizations.

The inquiry aims to address unacceptable risks women face during childbirth in the NHS, amid revelations of higher mortality rates among black and Asian mothers.