Denver labor bulletin., 1917-03-10
$1,000 MOTHERS
DIE ANNUALLY
IGNORANCE A I'D POOR
CARE IS CAUSE.
United States Department of Labor
Publishes Results of Study Made
in the United States and
in Foreign Countries.

More women 15 to 45 years of age
die in the United States from condi-
tions incident to maternity than from
any other cause except tuberculosis.
And since 1900, while the death rates
from tuberculosis, typhoid, diphtheria
and Group, and certain other prevent
able diseases have been greatly re-
duced, the available figures for the
death registration area show no de-
crease in the proportion of mothers
whose lives are sacrificed yearly to
ignorance and improper care in child
birth.
{ These facts and their causes, with a
detailed study of material death rates
in the United States and foreign coun-
tries, are set forth in a bulletin on
Maternal Mortality by DR.. Grace L.
Meigs, which has just been issued by
the children's bureau of the United
States department of labor.
Are Largely Preventable.
Dr. Meigs emphasizes the INSOFAR
able connection between the life and
health of the mother and the life and
health of her baby. She points out
that the $4,000 maternal deaths which
occur annually in the United States
are largely preventable; that these
200 deaths are merely rough index
of unmeasured preventable illness
among mothers; and that the protec-
tion of mothers is essential to the saw
/ ing of babies lives.
How can the protection of mothers
be accomplished
| Two underlying causes are as
signed for the present conditions:
/ First. The hazards have been eth
| er ignored or accepted as unavoidable.
Knowledge of the need for good care
at childbirth is essential; the lack of
such knowledge and of a demand for
/ this care has been, probably, the chief
factor in producing the present in
/ difference to this phase of preventive
medicine. Communities are still to
great extent Indifferent to or ignor-
ant of the number of lives of women
| lost yearly from childbirth"
Should Have Adequate Care.
"The second fundamental cause
the difficulty of obtaining adequate
care-is seen to depend to a large, ex-
tent on the first. AS women, their
husbands, physicians, and communi-
ties realize the absolute need of skilled
care, methods for providing it will be
developed"
The city problem and the rural
problem are both discussed.
Even in city well supplied with
clinics and hospitals the number of
women served by them is small in
comparison with the number who bear
their children without receiving ade-
quate care. Certain sections of the
population depend on ignorant mid
wives. But the reader is reminded
that women of moderate means who
can not pay large fees and who will
not visit a clinic sometimes receive
the lease benefit from improvements
in standards of care.
Recommendations Are Made.
"In rural districts many women
bear their children with no attendant
other than the hsuband, relative. or
neighbor. The nearest physician
may be miles away, the nearest hos
pital much farther"
| Dr. Meigs refers to the work for
maternal and child welfare which has
been developed in New Zealand and IN
Canada, and suggests "unit plan"
for rural county in this country to
include:
A rural nursing service, centering
at the county seat, with nurses espe-
cially trained to recognize dangerous
symptoms in prospective mothers.
An accessible county center to
which mothers could come for infor-
nation about personal hygiene.
A cottage hospital, or beds IN an
accessible general hospital, especially
for the proper care of abnormal cases.
Skilled attendance obtainable by
each mother in the county.