Could it happen to you?
Today (in 2019), you are 50% more likely to die during childbirth and immediately postpartum, than your mothers were (say 30 or 40 years ago), and for women of color, the number is significantly higher.
Did you know that Black Women are 234% more likely to die during/after childbirth than their counterparts?
Some statistics in the U.S. around Maternal Health:
-12.7 deaths per 100,000 live births in the US
-3x as high as the gov’ts target
-32.9% average c-section rate in the U.S. (2009)
-34,000, the # of birthing people (women) who nearly die from pregnancy-related complications (one every 15-min)
-5x the risk of maternal death in high poverty
Maternal Mortality (per 100k live births by race/ethnicity):
-34 non-Hispanic Black
-16.9 American Indian/Alaska Native
-11 Asian/Pacific Islander
-10.4 non-Hispanic White
-9.6 Hispanic
-African American women are 5x more likely to die from pregnancy related causes than white women (reasons listed below):
-poverty (a huge factor)
-racism
-lack of support
-lack of access
Health/Wellness, and the ability to maintain it, is about access to equitable (fair) options in order to maintain one’s health. When you don’t know your options, don’t understand your rights, and are used to being a spectator in your care, the level of care you receive, no matter how fair or poor becomes “normal”, until you realize it’s NOT! What we wind up seeing is exactly what’s happening in our society today; alarming maternal mortality rates, poor birth outcomes, traumatic births, and a generation of mothers and babies who suffer from PTSD and need to recover from these experiences.
The Arch App’s goal is to make visible those options, and to create a bridge (the arch) to that information, those resources and the alternative birth support (ie. Doulas, birth professionals), so that we can continue to improve birth outcomes and reduce high maternal mortality rates**. Users of The Arch App (birthing people, families, support persons) gain access to our directory of carefully curated non-clinical birth professionals (doulas, placenta encapsulators, childbirth educators, reiki/energy, lactation support, NCS, yoga instructors, etc). The app has resources and information available to you and for you!! Our Arch App Events Calendar showcases upcoming classes, workshops, trainings and events in your area. As a user (provider or client), you gain access to a shared calendar to log and keep track of personal appointments and appointments between you and your client/provider, client files are organized and available in your drawer, items like intake forms, contracts, previous birth questionnaire and support forms to make the provider/client experience that much more efficient. No more calls or text messaging using your personal or Gmail account numbers. NOW you can message and connect to your client and the client to you in real-time!
Find the type of support you desire, connect with and BOOK the practitioner of your choice, and SO MUCH MORE! Visit thearch.app today!
- * https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3647727/; https://evidencebasedbirth.com/the-evidence-for-doulas/; https://www.marchofdimes.org/materials/Doulas%20and%20birth%20outcomes%20position%20statement%20final%20January%2030%20PM.pdf ; https://americanpregnancy.org/labor-and-birth/having-a-doula/ ; https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2016/01/15/463223250/doula-support-for-pregnant-women-could-improve-care-reduce-costs
