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If you're having a baby, you're less likely to DIE in 39 other countries than you are here. Think about that. Also, the countries which have universal health care (all of which have FAR better birth outcomes than the U.S. does) each spend about HALF of what we do on maternity care. How did they do this? They took PROFIT out of the picture. They asked the WHO how to get the most bang for their health-care buck. A: Independent midwives for primary maternity care; and, keep c-sec rates below 10%, which independent midwives do. (Note: these countries didn't even ASK the WHO this Q until they had the burden of paying for everyone's health care with limited funds.) This was in 1983. What happened in the US when the WHO proved that independent midwives were the way to go? The c-section rate skyrocketed. What gets the healthiest results is not what the medical industry wants to hear--except to rush out and do the diametric opposite. After all, unhealthy people are repeat patients. In obstetrics, this means banning VBAC because, if you can do 4 c-secs on each uterus before you whip it out, you'll have maximized profits per uterus. So what if 3% more women are killed w/ medically-unnecessary c-sections? As long as moms are too scared to birth by themselves & illegal midwives remain scarce enough, the industry still makes handsome profits. In any crime, the key question is: Who profits? With regard to US healthcare, the answer--ultimately--is whoever profits from bankruptcy. Because to fall into the American safety net--if you weren't already in poverty--you have to spend down your assets so far that you are in poverty. This doesn't happen in "first world" countries--watch the Swiss guy in "Sick Around The World" (Frontline, pbs.org) recoil in horror at the notion of losing one's home due to health care costs. The FACT that the US gov't exists to rob the non-rich and give to the rich is amply proven by many trends of the last 30 years. Look at the whole HIV=AIDS thing--read Duesberg's INVENTING THE AIDS MYTH & aliveandwell.org. Read dunwalke.org and solari.com. Watch The MONEY MASTERS on google. Read Dean Baker's THE CONSERVATIVE NANNY STATE on google. OpEdNews Member for 186 week(s) and 4 day(s) 1 Articles, 0 Quick Links, 1128 Comments, 1 Diaries, 0 Polls Please Note: If you want to contact one of our OpEdNews writers, we ask that you login to your OpEdNews account. If you don't yet have an account, you can signup, free. PLUS post comments and maybe even submit articles or blog diaries. We would be delighted to welcome you. |
