By Marquita Little Numan As we recognize Black Maternal Health Week this year, I wanted to take a moment to reflect on my personal birth experience as a Black mother. In 2021, as we all adjusted to a new normal and navigated life during a pandemic, my family was thankful for a reason to celebrate. We learned […]
The U.S. continues to experience a worsening maternal mortality crisis that the COVID-19 pandemic only exacerbated. New data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows that the maternal mortality rate for all women nearly doubled between 2018 to 2021, climbing from 17.4 maternal deaths per 100,000 births in 2018 to 32.9 maternal deaths […]
Introduction Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) finance nearly half of all births each year, including a disproportionate share of births to women of color and women living in rural areas. *[1] Medicaid’s foundational role in maternity care financing presents a critical opportunity to leverage the program to respond to the ongoing U.S. […]
The pandemic’s continuous coverage protection had a profound effect on health coverage for pregnant women and new mothers, who for the first time experienced pregnancy-related coverage that did not end just 60 days after the end of pregnancy. Before the pandemic, about half of all people covered by Medicaid for pregnancy lost coverage after the […]
American families with children faced significant challenges during the pandemic due to school closures, lost jobs and isolation, and mothers reported higher rates of anxiety than fathers as they took on more caregiving responsibilities or even left their paid jobs. A full 50 percent of women ages 18 to 64 reported needing mental health services […]
Congress made several improvements to maternal health policy in the year-end Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2022, signed by President Biden on December 29, which both solidify eligibility for extended Medicaid postpartum coverage and bolster the health system’s capacity to serve new mothers. These policy changes come alongside other Medicaid and CHIP provisions in the Omnibus […]
