Often, women with sickle cell disease are told not to have kids. They might come to an appointment, happily pregnant, only for the doctor to tell them they shouldn’t be. They might be preparing for a scheduled C-section when their OB-GYN says that this pregnancy has gone smoothly but the next one could kill them. The illness is associated with an increased risk of serious pregnancy complications, which warrants a discussion — but sometimes that discussion can blur the line between advice and pressure. As a recent STAT investigation revealed, in extreme cases, some people have felt pushed into getting tubal ligations they didn’t want or fully understand.
Now, a data analysis commissioned by STAT shows that the rate of postpartum sterilization is significantly higher in Americans with sickle cell disease than in those without. Performed by researchers at Johns Hopkins University, the study found that between 2012 and 2019, 8.8% of deliveries to people with the condition ended in tubal sterilization, while 6.7% of births to unaffected mothers did.
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Author: Eric Boodman
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