Battlefield

About this artwork On an average day in the United States, two women die from childbirth-related causes. Another 139 suffer serious, near-fatal conditions after giving birth. While in other developed nations this rate is falling, in the U.S. our maternal mortality and morbidity rates are rising. (There are 141 paper dolls on this piece, one for every women who dies or nearly dies every day in the U.S.) The causes of this trend are complicated. Lack of access to overall healthcare and specifically prenatal care contribute, especially for women living in poverty. Racism contributes: black mothers die at three to four times the rate of white mothers. The growing numbers of Caesarian births contributes to complications in childbirth. The lack of effective, standardized medical protocols in some facilities contributes. Regardless of the cause, behind every one of these deaths or incidents of morbidity is a family. The tangible and intangible costs to each of those families is extreme. These