Week 0: Introduction
Tais M -
Hello! My name is Taís M. and I’m a senior at Basis DC. My Senior Project is about Maternal Mortality Rates within the United States, specifically, within DC. Ever since I interned with the DC Young Women’s Project, which provides teenagers with important sexual health information and resources, I have had a passion for women’s health. Maternal Health comprises a large section of women’s health and I’m very excited to be able to research such a crucial topic.
The United States has one of the highest Maternal Mortality Rates (MMR) of an industrialized and wealthy nation. Maternal Mortality is the death of a woman during pregnancy or 42 days after. In 2022, the US Maternal Mortality Rate was 22 per 100,000 births, versus the 1.2 in Switzerland, 0 in Norway, and 3.5 in Australia according to the British Medical Journal. These are all industrialized wealthy nations, and the United States has a much higher rate than they. In 2023, United States MMR was 18.6 per 100,00, a decrease from 2022, but no less worrying. Increased Maternal Mortality has been linked to small amounts of guaranteed paid Maternity Leave, lack of Obstetrician-Gynecologists (OB-GYNs) and midwifes, and low quality of healthcare. The situation within the United States is a crisis and is a key point of interest regarding women’s health.
During this project, I will focus on the District of Columbia. Being involved in health education organizations during my years in high school meant that I have been aware of the Maternal Mortality crisis in the United States for some time and have always felt it was very important. I am glad for the current opportunity to research Maternal Mortality Data and responses to MMRs within the District. I will be interacting with data on MMRs from various years to see if there is any correlation between increased rates and key events in women’s health history. In addition to this, I will be conducting research on DC’s actions regarding Maternal Mortality and the effects of these actions. Throughout this process, I will be working with, and interning for, AMP, the Apprenticeship Maryland Program, Global Youth, a program that aims to empower students to discuss and create change regarding global issues. With AMP, I aspire to create a set of videos about Maternal Mortality focusing on the US crisis, DC data, and DC actions and improvements. I hope to be able to reach a broad variety of people and educate my community on this personal and impactful topic.
I can’t wait to begin and am excited to share more with you soon!
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