NEW YORK CITY, September 26 – In 1933 The New York Academy of Medicine (NYAM) published a groundbreaking study on maternal mortality in New York City that stressed the importance of educating both patient and clinicians and introduced a mechanism to gauge the health of a community through its health care delivery system. On October 2, 2008, the History of Medicine and Public Health Lecture Series at NYAM will present the Academy Award nominated film “The Fight for Life” by master documentary filmmaker Pare Lorentz, as the first in its fall series of events to celebrate the 75th anniversary of this important report. Other events are a talk by Jacqueline Wolf, Ohio University: "Despite the Risk: Lay and Medical Perceptions of Obstetric Anesthesia," on October 30, and a talk by Ann M. Starrs, president of Family Care International, "Dying for Life: Maternal Mortality in the Developing World," on December 2.

At the time of the mortality report, the city was experiencing a high rate of deaths per 1000 live births. For the first time, a report of this kind looked at all five boroughs and sought to understand the factors leading to maternal mortality. Researchers looked at access to prenatal care, hospital standards, and protocols for mode of delivery, and proper clinical training received. The report stated, "Prenatal care was inadequate and improper. The patients repeatedly failed to seek prenatal care. Often if they did, it was very late in pregnancy and return visits were neglected. This was particularly true of patients from the lower economic groups … to improve this situation and remove the causes out of which it arises, it is evident that there must be a determined effort to educate the lay public."

To read and download PDF files of the complete 1933 report click here.

The results of this report, and more importantly the depth of the study, allowed a view of maternal deaths that before had not been accurately recorded. Today, maternal mortality rates are used to measure the overall health of a population.

Posted on 10/02/2008

Contact:
Malini Doddamani
Director of Communications
mdoddamani@nyam.org
212.822.7285