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PROPOSED RESOLUTION
CALLING FOR A HEARING OF THE HEALTH AND HOSPITALS COMMITTEE TO EXAMINE 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; and
WHEREAS, a maternal death 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
WHEREAS, last year the United States Government Accountability Office undertook an analysis of Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) data due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which presented challenges for maternal health, as pregnant women with COVID-19 are more likely to experience pregnancy complications, severe illness, or death; 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
WHEREAS, Health and Human Services officials and stakeholders said 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, 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 countries, including Australia, Austria, Israel, Japan and Spain which all reported be...
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