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PROPOSED RESOLUTION
CALLING FOR A HEARING OF THE HEALTH AND HOSPITALS COMMITTEE TO RECEIVE AN UPDATE ON MATERNAL HEALTH MORBIDITY AND MORTALITY RATES IN COOK COUNTY
WHEREAS, each year in the U.S., hundreds of women die from complications related to pregnancy and childbirth, known as maternal death, at a rate many times greater than in other developed nations; and
WHEREAS, maternal death/mortality is defined by the World Health Organization (WHO) as "the death of a woman while pregnant or within 42 days of termination of pregnancy, irrespective of the duration and the site of the pregnancy, from any cause related to or aggravated by the pregnancy or its management, but not from accidental or incidental causes, and maternal morbidity as "any health condition attributed to and/or complicating pregnancy, and childbirth that has a negative impact on the woman's well-being and/or functioning"; and
WHEREAS, Health and Human Services officials and stakeholders stated that the pandemic worsened factors contributing to maternal health disparities, like access to care, cardiovascular problems and other underlying conditions, which contributed to a 78% rise in maternal mortality rates in the U.S. between 2000-2020 according to the WHO; and
WHEREAS, CDC data shows that maternal deaths increased during the COVID-19 pandemic and COVID-19 was a contributing factor in one quarter of all maternal deaths in 2020 and 2021 combined, and although the pandemic has been substantially brought under control, there will continue to be ramifications for maternal health outcomes into the future; and
WHEREAS, in 2021, the U.S. had one of the worst rates of maternal mortality in the country's history going back to 1965. 1,205 people died of maternal causes in the U.S. in 2021, which represents a 40% increase from the previous year, and the U.S. rate for 2021 was 32.9 maternal deaths per 100,000 live births, which is more than ten times the estimated rates of some other high-income ...
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