McGraw said the amount of Kansans receiving adequate and early prenatal care also improved.
“Getting to a physician as soon as you know you’re pregnant,” she said, “allows prevention interventions that could really save and improve the health of mom and baby in the long run.”
“That is something worth celebrating for sure,” McGraw said.
But it wasn’t all good news.
Severe maternal morbidity, which is when a person experiences severe complications during pregnancy, birth or postpartum that cause lasting health issues, worsened in Kansas. As did maternal mortality.
McGraw said Kansas, like the rest of the nation, has profound racial disparities when it comes to maternal and infant health.
The preterm birth rate, for example, is much higher than the state and national average for Kansans of Pacific Islander descent and Black Kansans (15.4% and 14.9%).
“That’s indicative of a multitude of reasons,” McGraw said. “They can all have an impact on birth outcomes and actually mom’s health after and before pregnancy.”
Pacific Islander Kansans are almost 5x more likely than other Kansans to experience inadequate prenatal care. And babies born to Black Kansans are almost 2x more likely than others to die.
McGraw said Kansas could make some improvements to address these issues and improve the overall score.
She said the state extended access to Medicaid to one year postpartum, which is important. But more could be done. McGraw said the state should expand Medicaid, too.
“In this day and age when inflation is so high and things that we normally access like groceries take a bigger chunk of the budget, it’s important to cover as many families as possible,” she said. McGraw said Kansas should also require physicians to screen Medicaid recipients for postpartum depression and the physicians should be reimbursed for the screening. And she said the state should mandate employers provide paid family leave.
“That has shown to have very positive outcomes in terms of mom’s health,” McGraw said.
