Maternal medical care

I don't usually do "issue" posts, but since this article on Time.com caught my attention, I thought it warranted a mention. It relays a study on ob-related health care in the US performed my Amnesty International, the results of which are troubling. According to the study, maternal mortality rates are 5 times greater in the US than Greece, 4 times greater than Germany, and 3 times greater than Spain. As the recipient of a ineffective induction that resulted in the use of vacuum suction, I can't say I'm that surprised. Sadly, many of these deaths are preventable, the result of a fragmented system that is more worried about covering their a** than in thinking about the birth of a child in a comprehensive way. Hospitals overly worried about infant mortality (and dare I say, the possible lawsuits that might arise) jump to the use of invasive tools and procedures that often create a domino effect. The system is based on anxiety which feeds on itself, creating unnecessary emergencies. And as Amnesty International points out, in allowing it to happen we, as a culture, are engaging in a systematic violation of women's rights.