Editor’s note: This story is part of an ongoing series by The Frontier to examine and investigate maternal health in Oklahoma.
Oklahoma ranks among the worst states in the nation for women dying during or shortly after pregnancy, a state committee has concluded, and Black women in Oklahoma were two and a half more times likely to die than white women, according to a report issued Friday.
Delays in medical intervention and a lack of access to health care were among the biggest contributors to the state’s maternal deaths. Oklahoma is the fourth-worst state in the nation when it comes to maternal mortality, according to the inaugural report from the Oklahoma Maternal Mortality Review Committee.
Oklahoma ranks behind Alabama, Kentucky and Arkansas, according to the 12-page report. For the past 18 years, 11 women on average died per year, or about 200 women total.
The national maternal mortality rate was 17.4 maternal deaths per 100,000 live births in 2018, compared to 12.7 in 2007 — when the Centers for Disease Prevention and Control last updated the rate. The CDC listed Oklahoma’s rate as 30.1 maternal deaths per 100,000 people.
Black women in Oklahoma were more than two and a half times more likely to die than white women — an “alarming disparity” — the report shows. American Indian women were up to one and a half times more likely to die compared to white women over the years.
The majority of maternal deaths between 2010 to 2018 involved cardiovascular issues such as arrhythmia and pericardial tamponade, the report found. Infections or sepsis were the second leading cause.
Non-cardiovascular causes such as epilepsy, asthma and pneumonia were the third, and hemorrhage was the fourth. Cardiomyopathy was also among the top five causes.
“Oklahoma continues to rank among the worst states in the U.S. for several health indicators such as obesity, smoking, and poverty, which are contributing factors in an unhealthy pregnancy and adverse pregnancy outcomes,” the report said.
The committee concluded that personal responsibility is an important factor in maternal deaths and called for educating women and their families on the possibilities of postpartum complications and to seek medical care sooner. More timely care would decrease maternal mortality and other complications, the report said.
Finally, a lack of societal and family support, such as lack of insurance, transportation and health care also contributed to poor maternal health outcomes, the committee found.
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