Tag Archives: gynecology

Texas, keystone of the pro-life movement, sure is seeing a lot of maternal deaths

by OlivaKrimper Posted on August 22, 2016

Protesters hold signs during an anti-abortion rally at the State Capitol in Austin, Texas. Reuters/Mike Stone

Tex-Mess

Texas, keystone of the pro-life movement, sure is seeing a lot of maternal deaths

By Eve Andrewson Aug 22, 2016Share

Texas’ maternal mortality rate nearly doubled between 2010 and 2014 — from 18.6 deaths per 100,000 to 33 over the course of four years, according to a new study in the journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology. Overall, the national maternal mortality rate increased by 26.6 percent between 2000 and 2014 — but Texas’ increase was deemed “unusual” by Marian McDorman and the study’s other authors.

The study doesn’t make a causal relationship between the massive cuts that Texas has made to women’s health funding since 2011. Still, the study’s authors note the closing of several clinics in the state between 2011 and 2015 and that “in the absence of war, natural disaster, or severe economic upheaval, the doubling of a mortality rate within a 2-year period in a state with almost 400,000 annual births seems unlikely.”

Said closures made up the touchstone of the state’s years-long campaign against abortion, and were addressed in June’s Supreme Court decision on Whole Women’s Health v. Hellerstedt. It cannot be simple irony that Texas, whose legislature has rigorously justified the past five-odd years of anti-abortion measures as protecting “the dignity of life” and the health and safety of women, has in that exact time period seen an increase in maternal deaths exceeding that of any other state.

If you have the relative misfortune of getting knocked up in the Lone Star State, there’s more bad news: By 2100, the southwestern part of the state will see as many as 142 days over 95 degrees Fahrenheit, according to new data from Climate Central. That region — which is largely rural and sparsely populated — has been hit harder than the rest of the state by women’s health clinic closures.

And still — even post-SCOTUS decision — Texas’ war on reproductive rights marches on.

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Texas, keystone of the pro-life movement, sure is seeing a lot of maternal deaths

Posted in alo, Anchor, Everyone, FF, G & F, GE, LG, ONA, Uncategorized | Tagged article, Everyone, green, gynecology, hellerstedt, life, living, state, texas-reuters, women | Comments Off

We’re Surrounded by Way More Chemicals Than We Thought, and These Doctors Say We’re Screwed

by JosephineE37 Posted on October 1, 2015

Mother Jones

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A team of doctors, researchers, and clinicians from across the globe have teamed up to send a loud message to policymakers: More must be done to protect people from the toxic chemicals that endanger health—and soon.

The International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics (FIGO), a group representing OB-GYNs from 125 countries, released a report detailing the detrimental health effects caused by even small exposure to common chemicals like the ones found in pesticides, plastics, and air pollution. The health problems are even greater for babies exposed in the womb, who face increased risks of cancer, reduced cognitive function, and even miscarriage or stillbirth.

“We are drowning our world in untested and unsafe chemicals,” said lead author Gian Carlo Di Renzo in a statement, “and the price we are paying in terms of our reproductive health is of serious concern.”

The organization cited concerns about the sharp increase over the past four decades in chemical manufacturing, which continues to grow by more than 3 percent every year. Some 30,000 pounds of chemicals were manufactured or imported for every person in the United States in 2012 alone—a whopping 9.5 trillion pounds in total. Annually, the FIGO authors write, chemical manufacturing leads to 7 million deaths and billions in health care costs.

These numbers, they argue, are likely underestimated, and the problem is getting worse—especially in poor communities that often have higher levels of toxic exposure and in developing countries that bear the brunt of the global industrial emissions.

Dr. Tracey Woodruff, an associate professor at the University of California-San Francisco, says while there are ways individuals can limit their exposure—including building better health practices overall and eating a pesticide-free, healthy diet—more needs to be done to protect everyone. “You can do some things to enhance your resiliency to disease or decrease chemical exposures,” she says, “but there are a lot of things that are not in your control.”

That’s why FIGO released the opinion in advance of its world congress, where more than 7,000 health professionals will meet to discuss women’s health issues, to encourage doctors to play a bigger role in supporting policies that curb exposure. The organization is calling on health professionals and legislators to support policies that prevent exposure and offering recommendations that could help mitigate health risks, including increasing access to healthy food and incorporating environmental health into health care.

“The good news,” Woodruff says, “is we can deal with it, we have dealt with it before, and it will be a positive health and economic benefit to do that.”

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We’re Surrounded by Way More Chemicals Than We Thought, and These Doctors Say We’re Screwed