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A new way to measure perinatal mortality — and why it matters
The National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) has adopted a new, broader definition of perinatal mortality — deaths that occur around the time of birth. Until now, perinatal mortality included fetal deaths at 28 weeks of pregnancy or later and infant deaths within the first 7 days. The new definition lowers the threshold to include…
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How to use national data to cover trends in severe maternal morbidity
Women giving birth in the U.S. die at an alarmingly high rate compared with other rich nations, but maternal death is tricky to measure because it’s rare, numbering in the hundreds per year. For journalists who want to track trends in the quality of maternal health, a more useful gauge may be the rate of severe…
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