Many U.S. women feel they are getting inadequate care during pregnancy and delivery, a new poll shows However, most Americans mistakenly believe the United States has better maternal and infant mortality rates than other nations In fact, America lags behind all other wealthy nations THURSDAY, June 6, 2024 (HealthDay News) -- Many women are unhappy with the state of U.
S. maternal health care, but a major new poll finds most Americans don’t understand how badly the nation lags behind other wealthy countries in this area. Only about 2 in 5 (42%) women currently pregnant or ever pregnant strongly felt they had access to the best possible medical care while pregnant, down significantly from 50% in 2022, according to The Harris Poll’s second annual survey on the state of maternal health care .
Women reported similar numbers regarding their health care while giving birth . About 44% felt they had access to the best possible medical care during delivery, down from 52% in 2022, results show. “These results confirm that pregnancy and birth care in the United States is on the decline, and there is much room for improvement,” said Christina Lojek , research manager, media and communications research, at The Harris Poll.
Despite this, Americans were still likely to rank U.S. maternal care better than it actually is, when compared to that of other high-income countries, the poll found.
For example, only about 1 in 4 (29%) Americans surveyed correctly stated that the United States d.
