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The U.S. might feel more divided than ever, but here’s something most Americans can agree on: Maternal healthcare in the U.S. needs to get better, urgently.
It’s a paradox: The U.S. spends more per birth than any other wealthy nation, but it also has the highest maternal mortality rate among wealthy nations. Among Black women in the U.S., that rate is staggeringly high, at nearly three times the rate for white women. Well over 80% of these deaths are preventable, and two-thirds of them happen long after delivery, once parent and baby are home — notable, given the level of interest in the ongoing trial of Lindsay Clancy, the mother who killed her children while allegedly experiencing postnatal psychosis. Besides the immense suffering this creates, it also comes at an enormous cost to the economy.
If it all sounds unacceptable to you, that, according to a new survey, aligns you with most Americans.
A poll from Healthy Moms, Healthy Babies found that a vast majority of Americans would support policy proposals that would make birth better, including postpartum care. Notably, this number rose from 77% to 86% when the people polled listened to a short series of facts about maternal health. And lest we should think this is all just another politicized issue, those polled included Republicans, Democrats and Independents; men as well as women.
“Voters are ahead of Washington on this one,” said Robin Reck, the executive director of Healthy Moms, Healthy Babies. Indeed, a full 79% of those polled said they would vote for a candidate who champions maternal birth reforms, including 68% of Trump voters; while 82% of dads said they’d back a candidate championing maternal health reforms. Of those polled, one-third said they had either experienced, or knew someone who had experienced, childbirth complications.
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What might those reforms look like? Healthy Moms, Healthy Babies created a list of 15, all of which drew considerable support from those polled. These five were most popular among women respondents:
Increase access to specialty care and telehealth for women with high-risk pregnancies in rural and underserved communities.
Provide home visits or virtual check-ins with women within two weeks after childbirth.
Invest in training more maternal healthcare professionals to improve access to care.
Expand screening, treatment, and support for maternal mental health and substance use disorders during and after pregnancy.
Expand insurance coverage and access to tele-health and virtual care through the first year after childbirth.
Politicians looking for an edge in the midterms would do well to remember that this isn’t just a women’s issue, it’s an everyone issue. Safe pregnancy, delivery and postpartum care aren’t just nice-to-haves, they’re must-haves.
“The challenge is not a shortage of solutions or public will,” said Healthy Moms, Healthy Babies founder Olivia Walton. “It is the urgency to act on both.”
Francesca Donner is the founder and editor-in-chief of The Persistent. She is working on giving herself some grace. And also reading more.
