US ranking in maternal mortality

TIME magazine recently reported that the United States ranks 41rst out of 171 countries, of women who die from complications in pregnancy or childbirth. The death rate in America - one in 4,800 - far surpasses other developed countries where they average one in 16,400. 1
The notable difference between these outcomes is the extent to which other developing countries provide access to midwifery care for their citizens. In those nations where midwives attend a significant portion of births, their intervention rates are lower and maternal outcomes prove
safer. 2

1. TIME, October 29, 2007, p18
2. Marsden Wagner, MD, MSPH; Fish Can't See Water: The Need to Humanize Birth;
International Journal of Gynecology and Obstetrics, 75, supplement s25-37, 2001