Dying to be a mother
Sun 2nd Dec 2007 by Ben Palmer.CEMACH's latest triennial report, now called 'Saving Mothers' Lives' is due to be launched on Tuesday. As I heard on Friday, the Independent on Sunday has seen an advance copy of its findings.
The bottom line is that, overall, maternal deaths are up 13% from 261 (2000-02) to 295, and deaths from genital tract sepsis are up by a staggering 38%, from 13 to 18. The full Independent on Sunday article, Mothers at risk: Britain's real labour crisis, is on their website to read.
There seems to be some confusion within the government about the true picture - the Health minister, Ann Keen, seems to think that this means we have a death rate of 7 per 100,000 pregnancies, but the real figure is 13.95 per 100,000. How much longer can they keep burying their heads in the sand?
We need to take control, as parents, and show the NHS and government that we are not prepared to slide further into this third world state, and that no more unnecessary maternal deaths are acceptable.
I encourage you to write to your MP and let your feelings be known.
