Most common cause of death in pregnant or recently pregnant women in the US? Homicide *MN edited title*

[JustcameoutGC]

www.nature.com/articles/d41586-021-03392-8?utm_source=Nature+Briefing&utm_campaign=1806931d50-briefing-dy-20211115&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_c9dfd39373-1806931d50-44387361

This is a really startling report.
"The researchers found that US women who are pregnant or were pregnant in the past 42 days (the post-partum period) die by homicide at more than twice the rate that they die of bleeding or placental disorders — the leading causes of what are usually classified as pregnancy-related deaths."

"The team found that Black women in the United States who are pregnant or were recently pregnant have up to nearly three-fold higher risk of dying by homicide than those who are not pregnant — the highest increase reported among any racial or ethnic group. (The team reported rates only among Black, Hispanic and white women, because the sample sizes for other groups — such as Asian American women or Native American women — were too small to publish.)

Black women are similarly at heightened risk of death from obstetric causes. Overall, Black women who are pregnant or were recently pregnant die of pregnancy-related causes 2.5 times as often as non-Hispanic white women, according to the CDC."

Violence by men is a bigger risk factor to pregnant women than growing a human in your body and bringing it into the world. Jesus

That meant to say US!!!!

That's very shocking. Especially as the US has a very poor record on pregnancy and obstetric care.

Such depressing statistics..... To paraphrase a popular US comedian, everyone that's ever lived has come from between the legs of a woman. Why do men hate us so much?....

It's well known that domestic violence is likely to ramp up during pregnancy and after birth. Any time the woman is vulnerable or more dependent is statistically dangerous which also includes after a wedding, illness, giving up work etc.

There are also cases where men kill or seek to force miscarriage when they don't want a baby. I saw one such case on a BBC forensics programme recently. www.theguardian.com/uk/2009/dec/04/brandon-jolie-attempted-murder-canal

It's disgusting.

Things like this make me wish for a female-only world.

@JustcameoutGC

That meant to say US!!!!

MNHQ will change the title if you report your OP and ask them to change it.

That was a very sobering read. The intersection of race and age was a heartbreak. I'd like to see an overlap with an assessment of housing insecurity as that's previously been identified as a marked contributor to maternal morbidity about black women in the US.

And yet, what's the Editor's note about?

Editor’s note: Nature recognizes that transgender men and non-binary people can become pregnant. We use ‘women’ in this story to reflect the language used in the study, which is based on death certificates that identify people only as men or women.

Editor's Note : We'd really like to obfuscate these statistics but we can't.

I wonder how many pregnant and post natal women were killed by or at the behest of the father/her romantic current or ex partner? I would bet its almost all of them.

That is really depressing. I echo other posts that say how violence can begin or get worse during pregnancy.
Are similar stats available for the UK?

Depressing but sadly not surprising if you know much about DV.

@JustcameoutGC

That meant to say US!!!!

JustcameoutasGC Please would you report your post and ask for the title to be corrected to say US?

@FemaleAndLearning

That is really depressing. I echo other posts that say how violence can begin or get worse during pregnancy. Are similar stats available for the UK?

Not after a reasonable look around.

In England & Wales there were 105 black homicide victims 2019-2020 and almost half were 16-24. But, I can't readily find the number of women who died and for quite small numbers I'd think it would be unlikely to find public access figures to how many female homicide victims were pregnant or recently post-partum.

www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/crimeandjustice/articles/homicideinenglandandwales/yearendingmarch2020

I thought it was common knowledge that the greatest cause of death for pregnant women worldwide was murder. So common and can’t remember where from. I’ll look about for a source but I’m sure I’ve known this since I was in school.

Only mention of UK homicide in comparable group (many caveats) is across a 3 year period (2000-2002) with no breakdown by race:

www.rcpe.ac.uk/sites/default/files/why_mothers_die.pdf

the most common cause of Coincidental death is not road traffic accidents but murder. Eleven women died as a result of homicide, and each was killed by her male partner. This represents the tip of the iceberg of domestic violence…