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‘It ignores the reality’: experts react to controversial US maternal health study
Experts have questioned a new study challenging the extent of the US maternal health crisis
One study alone does not reverse a body of research, experts have warned, after a new paper has called into question the high maternal mortality rates in the US.
The report has challenged the scale of the maternal health crisis in the US, claiming that data classification errors have “inflated” maternal death rates for two decades.
It said that a change in the way pregnancy was noted on death certificates 21 years ago to improve the detection of maternal deaths led to “substantial misclassification” and an “overestimation of maternal mortality”.
Instead of the maternal death rate more than doubling since 2002, it has remained flat, the paper found.
However, experts have told Femtech World that blaming methodology differences around how mortality calculations are done ignores the harsh reality of what women giving birth in the US face.
“The reality is that mortality rates are a very narrow representation of the maternal health crisis in the US — they simply do not reflect the severity of the problem,” said Anu Sharma, founder and CEO of California-based maternity clinic Millie.
“Regardless of whether or not this specific data has been miscalculated, we undoubtedly have high rates of maternal morbidity, with nearly 50,000 near misses a year, as well as high rates of C-sections, preterm births, NICU stays and poor maternal mental health. On top of that, racial disparities for Black birthing people are significant, as this study continues to affirm.
“None of this is getting better in the face of the massive OB/GYN shortages we’re seeing nationwide, with labour and delivery unit closures happening daily.
“Reducing the US maternal health crisis to methodology differences around how mortality calculations are done, ignores the harsh reality of what mothers giving birth in the US face today.”
Dr Alison Cowan, OB/GYN and head of medical affairs at Mirvie, said: “The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and American College of Obstetrics and Gynecologists publicly disagreed with this analysis. The CDC specifically stated that they feel the paper underestimates maternal mortality.
“What no one is disputing is maternal health is in crisis and we need to devote more resources, not fewer, to solve these challenges.”
Dr Linda Genen, chief medical officer at ProgenyHealth, described the world of data analysis and reporting as challenging, and said that it is frequently hard to have consensus around methodology.
“The article and resulting statements by the CDC and ACOG are case in point. One study alone does not reverse a body of research,” she explained.
Regardless of the various reporting approaches, she said, the United States continues to have a problem that it should strive to solve.
“Having a stable maternal mortality number versus a rising maternal mortality number is not the key issue. The primary issue is that we have maternal death rates in a developed nation that is higher compared to other wealthy countries.”
Dr Sarah Oreck, reproductive psychiatrist and co-founder of Mavida Health, said what is inferred when evidence like this comes out is that maternal deaths are really not a problem. In reality, the findings paint a different picture.
“When you look under the hood of this study, the authors are arguing that maternal mortality only rose slightly over a 20-year period, but the trend that is hidden in those averages is a 17 per cent decrease in direct obstetrical deaths, from complications such as preeclampsia, corresponding with improvements in obstetrical care, but also a 45 per cent increase in indirect obstetrical deaths, from mental health disorders such as substance use and suicide, and a 329 per cent increase in late maternal deaths.
“These data points suggest that while we have been doing a better job of catching and treating physical disorders of pregnancy and birth in the last 25 years, our attention to mother’s mental health and the ongoing care of mothers following a delivery has been precipitously declining.”
Oreck said any movements towards better data collection should be celebrated but she warned that it is vital not to lose sight of how much still needs to change to better support mums and children.
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ShanX Medtech, a female-led AMR diagnostics startup, has secured €24m to scale its rapid antimicrobial susceptibility testing (AST) technology.
The Eindhoven-based company has closed a €15m seed round and been awarded an €8.85m European Commission contract developed by the Health Emergency Preparedness and Response Authority in collaboration with the European Health and Digital Executive Agency.
Founded in 2019, ShanX Medtech develops in-vitro diagnostic solutions for antimicrobial susceptibility testing, which determines which antibiotics will work against a specific infection.
The company says its technology can deliver results within an hour, compared to current methods which take longer.
The platform uses proprietary chemistry called FLORA to monitor pathogen metabolism in real time. According to the company, this requires limited user involvement and offers an improvement over approaches that need trained expertise.
Dr Sophia E. Shanko, founder and chief executive of ShanX Medtech, said: “We founded ShanX Medtech because of a single patient story, one that revealed how much is at stake when diagnostic results arrive too late.”
“Our vision is to equip every clinician with the ability to act decisively, guided by diagnostic evidence in real-time.
“This funding brings us significantly closer to delivering ultra-rapid AST directly to both laboratory and point-of-care environments; faster, simpler, and more accessible than ever before.”
The company’s initial market focus is on urinary tract infections, a common women’s health application, though the underlying platform has potential across wider clinical uses.
The oversubscribed seed round includes equity, grants and the Innovatiekrediet. The equity investment was led by Borski Fund, NextGen Ventures, CbusineZ, Brabantse Ontwikkelings Maatschappij, Invest-NL and a strategic angel fund.
Simone Brummelhuis, partner at Borski Fund, said: “Following an extensive market analysis of innovations addressing antimicrobial resistance, ShanX’s technology clearly emerged as best-in-class.
“While the company’s initial go-to-market strategy focuses on a well-defined women’s health application in urinary tract infections, the underlying platform offers substantial potential across a wide range of clinical indications.
“We are proud to support Sophia and her exceptional team in realising their ambitious vision.
“The oversubscribed financing round, together with multiple multi-million-euro commercial contracts, underscores both the strength of the technology and the founder’s proven commercial execution.”
Heart disease is the leading cause of death for women worldwide, yet women’s cardiovascular health has historically been underfunded and underrepresented in research and policy.
This year’s Femtech World Awards will shine a light on the innovations and innovators working to close this gender health gap and transform care for women everywhere.
The Cardiovascular Health Innovation award recognises groundbreaking advances that are transforming women’s heart health and improving patient outcomes.
The award honours innovators at the forefront of progress in areas such as wearable monitoring, AI-driven diagnostics, breakthrough therapies, telehealth, and community-based care.
The award is sponsored by Women As One.
Women As One was founded in 2019 by Dr Roxana Mehran and Dr Marie-Claude Morice, two internationally recognised physicians in cardiovascular care and research.
The mission of the organisation is to promote talent in medicine by providing unique professional opportunities to women cardiologists.
These opportunities range from clinical education to research funding to mentorship and network building.
Women As One also maintaina a Talent Directory database, which includes comprehensive qualification data on nearly 3,000 women cardiologists across 15 cardiovascular subspecialties and over 100 countries worldwide.
Dr Mehran said: “We are delighted to sponsor the new ‘Cardiovascular Health Innovation of the Year’ award at the 2026 Femtech World Awards.
“Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death for women, yet too often women’s symptoms, needs, and outcomes are overlooked.
“By recognising innovation in this field, we hope to accelerate progress toward equity in cardiovascular health and ensure that women everywhere benefit from groundbreaking advances in care.”
The Femtech World Awards are free to enter.
Winners and shortlisted entries will receive extensive coverage on all Femtech World platforms.
Winners will also receive a trophy and an interview with a Femtech World journalist.
Find out more about the awards and enter for free here.
Women with stronger sexual guilt and anxiety report poorer sexual functioning, a study of sexually active women in Indonesia finds.
Sexual functioning is the ability to experience healthy, satisfying sexual activity, including desire, arousal, lubrication, orgasm and satisfaction, and the absence of pain during sex.
The study authors note that traditional values in Indonesian society discourage discussion of sexual issues, with sex remaining largely taboo.
They suggest young people face conflicting social and cultural views that foster sexual guilt and anxiety.
Sex guilt is a generalised expectation of punishment for violating standards of appropriate sexual behaviour.
Individuals with strong sex guilt may avoid sex, lack sexual initiative and struggle to process sexual stimuli. Sex anxiety concerns others’ opinions and possible breaches of social norms.
Participants were 169 women aged 19 to 40 from Greater Jakarta, recruited via an online survey shared on social media and WhatsApp.
Of those surveyed, 59 per cent were married, 44 per cent had children and 56 per cent held a bachelor’s or master’s degree.
They completed assessments of sexual functioning (Female Sexual Function Index), sex guilt (Brief Mosher Sex Guilt Inventory) and sex anxiety (Sex Anxiety Inventory).
Results showed higher sex guilt and sex anxiety were linked to worse sexual functioning.
There were no differences in sex guilt, sexual functioning or sex anxiety between participants with and without children. Single women tended to report worse sexual functioning than other groups.
Study authors Mia Audina Olivia and Ahmad Naufalul Umam concluded: “Our main finding confirmed the global dynamics on how sexual guilt and anxiety may hinder one’s sexual functioning, while the demographic data showed that sexual functioning in Indonesian women’s context is tied with normative relationship of marriage.”
The researchers noted that the study design does not allow causal conclusions to be drawn from the results.
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