Obesity presents new challenges on matenity wards
The New York Times just ran an interesting article about how the rising numbers of obese pregnant women are presenting new health and resource challenges, and even leading to entirely preventable maternal deaths, even in the United States.
According to the piece, one in five pregnant women are technically obese. The condition is causing higher rates of diabetes, heart disease and birth defects. More serious than that, babies born to obese women are three times more likely to die within a month of birth.
Hospitals that can barely afford to take care of perfectly healthy mothers and babies are having a tough time dealing with this trend, particularly with women who require surgical procedures as a result.
On the upside, a battery of new programs and services have sprung up to manage the problem. Some hospitals are offering support groups teaching women how to change their nutrition and behavior to lose enough weight to ensure healthy pregnancies.
Check out the article to learn more about how grave this situation is, and what is being done to turn back the tide.
