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Saturday, May 14, 2011

How is this possible? « MomsRising Blog

How is this possible? « MomsRising Blog

How is this possible?

Like millions of women across the country, I love Mother’s Day. I appreciate all the love that comes my way on that special day. This year, I also found myself appreciating something even more basic – having survived childbirth.

While making a new documentary film, “No Woman, No Cry,” I learned that hundreds of thousands of women die each year as a result of pregnancy and childbirth. Surprisingly, the U.S. is one of the countries with the highest maternal mortality rates in the world. Forty-nine countries around the world do a better job of preventing women from dying from pregnancy-related complications than the U.S. [1]

Approximately 90% of these deaths are preventable.[2] Despite these terrible maternal outcomes, there are no requirements that states track how many women are dying related to pregnancy and childbirth and why this is happening.

How is this possible in our nation?

Join in me in demanding an answer now by using this one-click tool to contact your members of