How can this be in the United States?

lymom3

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I didn't see this posted anywhere...rest of the article at the link below.

http://www.cnn.com/2006/HEALTH/parenting/05/08/mothers.index/index.html

U.S. has second worst newborn death rate in modern world, report says

Research: 2 million babies die in first 24 hours each year worldwide

An estimated 2 million babies die within their first 24 hours each year worldwide and the United States has the second worst newborn mortality rate in the developed world, according to a new report.

American babies are three times more likely to die in their first month as children born in Japan, and newborn mortality is 2.5 times higher in the United States than in Finland, Iceland or Norway, Save the Children researchers found.
 
Snip from the article.

As Americans celebrate Mother's Day on Sunday, "5,000 mothers will mourn the loss of the newborn they bear that very day in the developing world," said Anne Tinker, director of Save the Children's Saving Newborn Lives initiative.
 
lymom3 said:
I didn't see this posted anywhere...rest of the article at the link below.

http://www.cnn.com/2006/HEALTH/parenting/05/08/mothers.index/index.html

U.S. has second worst newborn death rate in modern world, report says

Research: 2 million babies die in first 24 hours each year worldwide

An estimated 2 million babies die within their first 24 hours each year worldwide and the United States has the second worst newborn mortality rate in the developed world, according to a new report.

American babies are three times more likely to die in their first month as children born in Japan, and newborn mortality is 2.5 times higher in the United States than in Finland, Iceland or Norway, Save the Children researchers found.
I don't think this study is accurate...
More likely American births are tracked and recorded better then other countries .....
 
Very valid point Amraann...as always.
 
Iam not surprized hardly anybody in USA got a good health plan. most plan's if you very luckly at work come with a 4 to 6 inch thick book of the stuff they don't cover and that's about everything..as much as we pay in taxes in this country and still don't have a nationwide heath care is a shame and who going pay for it is our children...it really come's down to if you rich you got a very good plan.. everybody else is out of luck
 
I feel that is untrue..

Americans have damn good health care. If your broke .. You can get Medicare.
If its an emergency its illegal for a hospital to refuse you.


IMO if your in such a state that you can't get medical care.. It may not be a good time to open your legs and have a child anyhow.

Planned parent hood offers low cost Birth control.. And some state pay for abortions if a person is of low income.
 
Amraann said:
I don't think this study is accurate...
More likely American births are tracked and recorded better then other countries .....
I don't think so - these are other modern, industrialized countries. I think the issue is that a lot of them have universal health care. Here, while I'm treated great, and just about living at the doctors office due to some issues, if I didn't have health insurance and money, I wouldn't even be seeing a doctor much at all, and my problems probably would have gone undiagnosed. I think we've got the two tiers - those with health insurance, with a great fetal survival rate, and those without, who have a bad one. In the article they mention that there are race and other statistical variations that point a lot towards the simple issue of money and insurance.
 
Medicare, emergency rooms, planned parenthood - they're good for emergencies, but not for the longer term or preventative care. My sisters husband was born with a hole in his heart. Without something more than just a hopsital delivery, they wouldn't have known about it in time to do something to save him. But with habitual appointments, the problem was seen on ultrasound, they were ready when he was born, and he's alive and well today. If his mom didn't have medical insurance, he'd be one of those statistics.
 
Amraann said:
I don't think this study is accurate...
More likely American births are tracked and recorded better then other countries .....

Better than Iceland, Finland or Japan? Doubtful.

More likely we just have crappy health care.
 
Details said:
I don't think so - these are other modern, industrialized countries. I think the issue is that a lot of them have universal health care. Here, while I'm treated great, and just about living at the doctors office due to some issues, if I didn't have health insurance and money, I wouldn't even be seeing a doctor much at all, and my problems probably would have gone undiagnosed. I think we've got the two tiers - those with health insurance, with a great fetal survival rate, and those without, who have a bad one. In the article they mention that there are race and other statistical variations that point a lot towards the simple issue of money and insurance.

Bingo! Beautifully put, Details.
 
Amraann said:
I feel that is untrue..

Americans have damn good health care. If your broke .. You can get Medicare.
If its an emergency its illegal for a hospital to refuse you.


IMO if your in such a state that you can't get medical care.. It may not be a good time to open your legs and have a child anyhow.

Planned parent hood offers low cost Birth control.. And some state pay for abortions if a person is of low income.
I agree with you Amraann. Personal responsibility must be held as accountable as anything else.
Perhaps not all Americans value life as they do in other countries?
What was the ratio of drug use/smoking/eating correctly as compared to other countries.

I don't want Universal Health Care. I don't want to be told that if I need my gallbladder removed that it will take 2-3 years to get around to it. I don't want to have to wait months for a heart operation. I don't want to be told that I am too old, at age 60, to get a kidney, unless I pay for it myself.

JMHO
 
Well, I'd rather live in Australia than America when it comes to Health Care.
I'm not right up on how it is over there, but from what I've heard it costs an arm and a leg to even walk inside an hospital over there.
Here I pay nothing to go to a doctor or to go to hopsital and I am on the most basic-health Care Card.
Still, our Health system is in crisis and is in desperate need of a review.
There are just not enough hopsital beds to go around and long waiting lists for surgery in alot of hospitals.
 
KrazyKollector said:
I agree with you Amraann. Personal responsibility must be held as accountable as anything else.

Good point. Those dead babies really have only themselves to blame.
 
I know a couple of young ladies who have managed to get pregnant. One is 15 and the other one is 16. One is the daughter of our chief mechanic. He's very upset and depressed about the whole thing. It's really his stepdaughter and her mom has her head buried in the sand. He made the appointment for our local health department for an evaluation and testing and she will come under Colorado's system and be cared for by the taxpayers. I guess I should be happy that she's getting the care she needs under the circumstances.
 
Medicare is for older Americans. Medicaid is for the poor, and there are rules for being eligible, etc.

We have more minorities and poor than those other countries listed, and probably much less consistency in health care due to the fact that millions of Americans are without health insurance.

Also, if you don't think to get your maternity coverage ahead of time, you aren't covered on your plan.

There is probably an entire layer of women who don't qualify for Medicaid, but aren't rich enough for expensive health insurance, or just don't have jobs (no insurance).

I blame the insurance companies, lack of access to health care by the poor or in-between, lack of education and good health, etc., and our demographic make-up for most of the differences.
 
From the link:

"The United States has more neonatologists and neonatal intensive care beds per person than Australia, Canada and the United Kingdom, but its newborn rate is higher than any of those countries," said the annual State of the World's Mothers report."

So there is one reason. Kinda. I think health insurance, or rather the lack of it, is responsible.
 
Insurance and health care coverage is a touchy area for me right now. We have good insurance, but are still facing losing everything we own, because insurance doesnt pay enough. We "make too much" to qualify for help, yet dont make near enough to pay the medical bills we are facing.

Our very first evaluation was NOT medical, but financial. We had to prove we could pay before we ever got back to see the medical staff. No $$ = no heart transplant. Thats the cold hard facts.

I certainly dont claim to have any answers, but I can say what we are doing now doesnt work when there is any type of serious medical problems. My husbands expenses for the first year will run around $687,000...even if we only have to pay 10% of that we will be wiped out. His medications will run over $26,000 year for the rest of his life. Again, our cost shares will leave us struggling to do this year after year. Of course, we will do what we have to do, even that means we lose everything, but, IMO, it should not be this way. He has worked since he was 17 years old. Served his country for 20 years, and his state for 13...yet we face a future of barely being able to pay our bills.
 
A non insured person may be able to afford doctor visits when ill but the lab tests that may need to be done if an illness doesn't clear up is what is most unaffordable. Specialists and invasive diagnostic procedures would also be out of reach for most people. I'm not sure an emergency room would do all that if the problem wasn't an emergency.
 
Amraann said:
I feel that is untrue..

Americans have damn good health care. If your broke .. You can get Medicare.
I can say from first hand experience (and a 30,000 dollar baby) that that is VERY false.
 
I think a lot of it may be so many teenagers getting pregnant. They may not have proper nutrition during the pregnancy. Many may be taking drugs. There are programs out there for these young women. I know two unwed mothers who had almost everything paid during their pregnancies. Then there is the WIC program which helps women, infants, and children. Teenagers often make poor food choices even when better food choices are available. I just feel this may contribute to the high infant death rates. It is known that a lack of folate in early pregnancy may contribute to some birth defects.
 

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