2023-08-22 19:15:27
One in five American women experience medical abuse during pregnancy or childbirth, according to a new study from health authorities on Tuesday, which again highlights the crisis situation concerning the follow-up of pregnant women in the United States.
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Among the most common abuses reported: being refused or ignored after asking for help, being yelled at or scolded, having one’s physical privacy violated, being threatened not to receive treatment or being forced to receive one that you don’t want.
This study published by the Centers for Disease Prevention and Control (CDC), the main federal health agency in the United States, questioned some 2,400 women aged 18 and over about the pregnancy of their first child.
It shows that black women were most likely to experience abuse (30 percent of them), followed closely by Hispanic women (29 percent) — compared to 18 percent of white women.
“As a black doctor, mother and woman, it is demoralizing to hear how common this abuse is,” CDC official Wanda Barfield said in a statement. “We know that racism and discrimination can lead to delays in treatment, and sometimes to tragic deaths that could have been avoided.”
The maternal mortality rate has been rising in the United States for years, and it is now one of the worst among industrialized countries. Maternal mortality refers to the deaths of women occurring during pregnancy, childbirth, or shortly thereafter.
Between 2018 and 2021, this rate increased by 17.4 deaths per 100,000 births in the United States, to 32.9 deaths.
The vast majority of these deaths are preventable, health authorities point out.
According to the study published on Tuesday, around 40% of black women said they had suffered discrimination during their pregnancy or childbirth, in particular because of their skin color, but also their age or weight.
Furthermore, women without health insurance or public insurance reported more abuse than women with private health coverage.
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