The report card is in, and the United States is now near the bottom in another category... Newborn deaths. Say yes to the goodness that is private medicine, capitalism and the American way. The study directly links the health of women and prenatal care to the percentage of babies that die in the first three months of life. Many die in the first 24 hours. So what is up with us? Why are babies dieing in the wealthiest country in the world? The answer is greed. Loathsome, malevolent, evil greed. You see it's about caring for women as much as caring for babies. More specifically than this is the care of poor women. With poverty growing in this country at alarming rates women without access to prenatal care and education are falling through the cracks They end up in emergency rooms for deliveries, after having a pregnancy that may have included poor nutrition, substance abuse, health problems and other deficits that women with health insurance have addressed during or before the pregnancy. The women in nearly every other Western or industrial nation have health care provided by their government. Governments that don't put corporate profits before people. Japan for instance has one of the lowest rates of infant mortality, they give prenatal care to all mothers to be. Where is the religious right on this issue? Where are these hypocrites after the children are born. This nation has become an embarrassment on so many levels. But to fail so dismally when it comes to caring for our mothers and children... it's utterly shameful.Miserable Failure
Tuesday, May 09, 2006
Time : 10:14 PM
Time : 10:14 PM
The report card is in, and the United States is now near the bottom in another category... Newborn deaths. Say yes to the goodness that is private medicine, capitalism and the American way. The study directly links the health of women and prenatal care to the percentage of babies that die in the first three months of life. Many die in the first 24 hours. So what is up with us? Why are babies dieing in the wealthiest country in the world? The answer is greed. Loathsome, malevolent, evil greed. You see it's about caring for women as much as caring for babies. More specifically than this is the care of poor women. With poverty growing in this country at alarming rates women without access to prenatal care and education are falling through the cracks They end up in emergency rooms for deliveries, after having a pregnancy that may have included poor nutrition, substance abuse, health problems and other deficits that women with health insurance have addressed during or before the pregnancy. The women in nearly every other Western or industrial nation have health care provided by their government. Governments that don't put corporate profits before people. Japan for instance has one of the lowest rates of infant mortality, they give prenatal care to all mothers to be. Where is the religious right on this issue? Where are these hypocrites after the children are born. This nation has become an embarrassment on so many levels. But to fail so dismally when it comes to caring for our mothers and children... it's utterly shameful.
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Comments for Miserable Failure
I am SO loving that baby picture.
I think it is more complicated than this, LOC. There are prenatal programs, WIC, nutrition, etc. A poor pregnant woman does have access to prenatal care. Certainly there are the people who have just enough to not be eligible but are not able to pay. There are many programs- some problems involve access, transportation, ignorance.
I think it has a lot to do with a pervasive sense of children being a low priority. This is reflected in schools, day cares, regulations, chemicals, pollutants, safety. Even with prenatal care there are certain people that will not do right by their babies and that is tough to understand. I'm just saying it goes deeper than who has incurance versus who does not. there are some cultural factors.
I know a woman that drives with her baby on the seat of her car, and claims that she "never gets in accidents". She did not take vitamins, smoked, thought a little beer was ok..."my mother did it". One day I couldn't help it and I said that she was kidding herself if she didn't think her mothers beer screwed her up because she had to be the most unworthy fucked up person in America. Now we try not to judge...but get a clue people. Call CPS on their crazy asses, I say.
I think it is more complicated than this, LOC. There are prenatal programs, WIC, nutrition, etc. A poor pregnant woman does have access to prenatal care. Certainly there are the people who have just enough to not be eligible but are not able to pay. There are many programs- some problems involve access, transportation, ignorance.
I think it has a lot to do with a pervasive sense of children being a low priority. This is reflected in schools, day cares, regulations, chemicals, pollutants, safety. Even with prenatal care there are certain people that will not do right by their babies and that is tough to understand. I'm just saying it goes deeper than who has incurance versus who does not. there are some cultural factors.
I know a woman that drives with her baby on the seat of her car, and claims that she "never gets in accidents". She did not take vitamins, smoked, thought a little beer was ok..."my mother did it". One day I couldn't help it and I said that she was kidding herself if she didn't think her mothers beer screwed her up because she had to be the most unworthy fucked up person in America. Now we try not to judge...but get a clue people. Call CPS on their crazy asses, I say.
Hey Lefty, we are fleecing the elderly as well. The new Medicare program is confusing and difficult to enroll in for people without internet access. The deadline is May 15th, no exceptions. There are people spending thousands of dollars a year for prescription medication. Why is the Post Office run by the government while a life and death thing such as prescription drugs is in the hands of greedy stock holders? Why does the government prohibit medicinal marijuana and at the same time they permit companies like Pfizer, Merck, et al, to charge $350 for a 30 day supply of Nexium?? How many women might have been given pre-natal care using the soon-to-be trillion dollars we spent taking out Saddam? It's utterly shameful where this country is headed.
Your right obviousl;y there are programs. However if people dont know about them it doesnt matter. There are other matters, such as transportation, getting off your job to go to numerous appointments, citizen status. Obviously al the symptoms and reasons can not be given in a blog entry designed to simple point out our status. I pop viens in my forehead everytime I go pick up my son from school, and see how many yuppy scumbags dont buckle up their kids or use child seats.
absolutly right Murat, I've covered that issue a few times. But having three kids of my own, I cant help but be moved by our failure on this issue in particular.
I wonder how the invisible population of immigrants is reflected in this statistic?
- Posted at 12:11 AM | By
Rory Shock
I hear you man. We have a toddler who is the center of our universe (would love to have another few!) The other day I spied a toddler in the back of a car, standing on the seat looking back at me while mommy was chatting it up on her wireless... Grrrr. I ride and race my bike a lot, and on rest days I go out for a spin on a local bike path. As one who has crashed off my bike enough to split three helmets in half, I am astonished when I see little kids and toddlers still out on their bikes without head protection. Sometimes I slow down and praise little kids who DO have their helmets on, and sometimes I gently scold others who do not.
i wonder how this would change if at the end of the news along side the share prices they would put infant mortality and unborn death rates EVERY DAY
- Posted at 2:09 AM | By michael the tubthumper
It can be amazing how little thought some parents put into their children's care on all levels.
Michael Tanner at the Cato Institute writes that
"Critics of American health care often point out that other countries have higher life expectancies or lower infant mortality rates, but those two indicators are bad ways to measure the quality of a nation's health-care system. In the United States, very low-birth-weight infants have a much greater chance of being brought to term with the latest medical technologies. Some of those low-birth-weight babies die soon after birth, which boosts our infant mortality rate, but in many other Western countries, those high-risk, low-birth-weight infants are not included when infant mortality is calculated.
Life expectancies are also affected by other factors like violent crime, poverty, obesity, tobacco, and drug use, and other issues unrelated to health care. When you compare the outcome for specific diseases like cancer or heart disease, the United States outperforms the rest of the world."
"Critics of American health care often point out that other countries have higher life expectancies or lower infant mortality rates, but those two indicators are bad ways to measure the quality of a nation's health-care system. In the United States, very low-birth-weight infants have a much greater chance of being brought to term with the latest medical technologies. Some of those low-birth-weight babies die soon after birth, which boosts our infant mortality rate, but in many other Western countries, those high-risk, low-birth-weight infants are not included when infant mortality is calculated.
Life expectancies are also affected by other factors like violent crime, poverty, obesity, tobacco, and drug use, and other issues unrelated to health care. When you compare the outcome for specific diseases like cancer or heart disease, the United States outperforms the rest of the world."
l o c you are very correct indeed about why some women do NOT get pre-natal care.
we have many people from all sorts of islands here as well as many south and central americans (not so many mexicans though. go figure????). at any rate, IF medical treatment is sought out it is usually within their OWN communities. IF there is a clinic fine and dandy. if NOT, they usually seek a community 'healer' out. i am uncertain of the qualifications of most of these healers.
l o c you're right too when you say WHERE IS THE RIGHT AFTER the children are born? yeah, NO birth control - these kids HAVE to be 'made' then when they are actually born, they're left swinging in the wind.
if i see a child in a car on a hot day i'll stand by that car for a moment or two. no parent(s) around? i'll call the authorities without batting an eyelash (a while ago i posted a story about a connecticut woman who sued the fire and police departments of her town for breaking her lexus' windows to get her kids out of the car. asswipe that she is) (the good news in my hood is i've never seen a child WITHOUT a bicycle helmet on). i bought each of my six nieces and nephews helmets too!
we have many people from all sorts of islands here as well as many south and central americans (not so many mexicans though. go figure????). at any rate, IF medical treatment is sought out it is usually within their OWN communities. IF there is a clinic fine and dandy. if NOT, they usually seek a community 'healer' out. i am uncertain of the qualifications of most of these healers.
l o c you're right too when you say WHERE IS THE RIGHT AFTER the children are born? yeah, NO birth control - these kids HAVE to be 'made' then when they are actually born, they're left swinging in the wind.
if i see a child in a car on a hot day i'll stand by that car for a moment or two. no parent(s) around? i'll call the authorities without batting an eyelash (a while ago i posted a story about a connecticut woman who sued the fire and police departments of her town for breaking her lexus' windows to get her kids out of the car. asswipe that she is) (the good news in my hood is i've never seen a child WITHOUT a bicycle helmet on). i bought each of my six nieces and nephews helmets too!
Jason, I was not measuring the total of health care in this country. Tanner may be right about some things but then again he often has a very partisan slant on things and picks and chooses the research for his pieces. I simply commented on one study. Skewing the information anyway you want, it's still a sad state of affairs that we are even near the bottom. Wouldn't you agree? We have 49 million ujninsured people in this country. One way or another we end up paying for their care or lack there of.
where is the Right? They are busy assembling pipe bombs to hand to the receptionists, nurses, and doctors at Planned Parenthood centers.
As for the kids not in carseats I say where have the parents been? We didn't even HAVE carseats growing up, yet somehow I get it that my kids are supposed to be strapped in for their own safety. Wonder how that notion evolved without practical application...
As for the kids not in carseats I say where have the parents been? We didn't even HAVE carseats growing up, yet somehow I get it that my kids are supposed to be strapped in for their own safety. Wonder how that notion evolved without practical application...
Murat:
We have a toddler who is the center of our universe (would love to have another few!)
Be careful what you wish for - one is absolutely adorable. Two are cute but sneaky. Three or more is like living with the IRA!
We have a toddler who is the center of our universe (would love to have another few!)
Be careful what you wish for - one is absolutely adorable. Two are cute but sneaky. Three or more is like living with the IRA!
Well, for Mothers Day I am sending this new little "accomplishment" all over- to CountDown and Craigslist ( Craig Crawford)- it is too important issue to walk by and go oh well. I live Urban in Cleveland- there are alot of women falling through the cracks- esp lower income working women...hell ,even middle income folks without insurance for them or their kids....
- Posted at 3:24 PM | By enigma4ever
Let's forget too, that Cuba's beating us in infant mortality rates.
This goes out to Jason in particular, whose spurs have been jingling and jangling again I see:
With infant mortality rates on Pine Ridge alone (at 300% higher than the national average) being the worst in all of North America, go do your cherry-picking elsewhere.
This goes out to Jason in particular, whose spurs have been jingling and jangling again I see:
With infant mortality rates on Pine Ridge alone (at 300% higher than the national average) being the worst in all of North America, go do your cherry-picking elsewhere.
- Posted at 10:42 PM | By
