California On The Front Lines Of Improving Shocking Maternal Death Rates
More than a decade ago, California launched a statewide effort to figure out why so many women were dying from childbirth in one of the most developed countries in the world. Now, as national focus has been brought back to the issue, California may serve as a model to other states.
NPR:
To Keep Women From Dying In Childbirth, Look To California
The state is leading the charge to reverse the nationwide trend: Since 2006, California has cut its rate of women dying in childbirth by more than half. And it's a state whose impact could make a big difference: One in eight infants born in the United States is born there. (Montagne, 7/29)
In other maternal health news —
San Francisco Chronicle:
SF’s Newest Hospital To Expand Maternity Care, End Long-Term Nursing
When California Pacific Medical Center opens the doors to its new $538 million hospital in San Francisco’s Mission neighborhood next month, its services will fall in line with what health economists say has been trending in the hospital business for years. The new Sutter-owned acute-care hospital, to be called CPMC Mission Bernal, will expand maternity and orthopedic care, two sources of hospital revenue that experts say are increasingly profitable industrywide. (Ho, 7/29)