Cardiac Arrest During Pregnancy? It's' WAY more common than you might think!
According to the American Heart Association, 1 in 12,000 women admitted for delivery in the United States goes into cardiac arrest. As Avive’s infographic shows, the root cause is complicated. It can be due to anesthesia used during childbirth or even how a woman’s body changes while she’s pregnant, putting more stress on her heart. No matter the cause, the solution is clear: defibrillation with an AED machine, like the one Avive created.
Even more startling, the rate of maternal cardiac arrest is INCREASING in the United States, even though it’s decreasing internationally.
Women receive bystander CPR less often than men, and there’s a grave concern that women who are pregnant will receive help even less often. Lay people who witness a woman in need are likely to worry about “hurting” a pregnant woman, so they may not render any aid. Instead, the proper treatment is early CPR and access to a life-saving automated external defibrillation (AED unit).
Make sure to check out this important infographic to learn more about sudden death in pregnancy and what you can do to help!
