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Native Americans are dying from pregnancy. They want a voice to stop the trend
Native American and Alaska Native people face the highest pregnancy-related mortality ratio due to preventable causes linked to care access and funding gaps, CDC data show.
- The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found Native American and Alaska Native people had the highest pregnancy-related mortality ratio, the most recent year available, while maternal mortality review committees reported most deaths were preventable.
- Underfunding of the Indian Health Service and unstable coverage mean more than 90% of Native American and Alaska Native births occur outside IHS facilities, amid growing maternity care deserts.
- Review panels found 68% of pregnancy-related deaths within a week to a year postpartum, with mental health conditions and infection as leading causes and examples of long-distance neonatal transfers up to 525 miles.
- Native organizations and tribal leaders are expanding review models and increasing tribal participation, including Arizona's first Native American co-chair, amid ongoing funding and sovereignty challenges.
- Tribal leaders emphasize that funding in the fiscal year 2026 Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies appropriations bill could lapse after Jan. 31, risking progress, while experts highlight the need for culturally tailored solutions.
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28 Articles
Broomfield Enterprise+27 Reposted by 27 other sources
Native Americans are dying from pregnancy. They want a voice to stop the trend
By Jazmin Orozco Rodriguez, Oona Zenda, KFF Health News Just hours after Rhonda Swaney left a prenatal appointment for her first pregnancy, she felt severe pain in her stomach and started vomiting. Then 25 years old and six months pregnant, she drove herself to the emergency room in Ronan, Montana, on the Flathead Indian Reservation, where an ambulance transferred her to a larger hospital 60 miles away in Missoula. Once she arrived, the staff co…
·Denver, United States
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Total News Sources28
Leaning Left4Leaning Right1Center17Last UpdatedBias Distribution77% Center
Bias Distribution
- 77% of the sources are Center
77% Center
L 18%
C 77%
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