Dr. Myechia Minter-Jordan: Pa. just took major step to address maternal mortality crisis

Uncertainty. Anticipation. Fear.

These are just a few of the emotions that run through the minds of almost every expecting parent. And for many expecting Black parents, those feelings can be more acute.

That’s because for far too many, having a child can be a life-threatening event. Across our country, we are facing a maternal health crisis.

April is National Minority Health Month, an opportune time for all of us to recognize this crisis and engage in the national conversation about dismantling the systemic barriers to care for pregnant people of color. It’s a time to recognize the importance of providing comprehensive care — including oral care — to all.

Today, American women are 50% more likely to die in childbirth than their mothers were. Black women in the U.S. are three times more likely to die from a pregnancy-related complication than their white counterparts. And Black mothers in the U.S. are twice as likely to lose an infant to premature death. Taken together, those statistics point to a fact that gives me pause every time I read it: The United States has the highest maternal mortality rate of any high-income country in the world.

Most maternal deaths are preventable. One study found that 60% of pregnancy-related deaths were preventable. That same report found, not surprisingly, that access to quality care is a key step to reversing this trend.

While coverage alone will not address all the ways in which systemic racism in health care results in worse outcomes, including higher Black maternal mortality rates, access to affordable health coverage is essential. We can save lives if we ensure access to care before, during and after pregnancy. But for far too many families, affordable coverage, especially postpartum coverage, is simply not available.

Fortunately, our nation’s policymakers signed into law a mechanism to expand maternal health coverage that went into effect April 1. The change, a provision in the American Rescue Plan, allows states to extend postpartum Medicaid benefits from the current 60 days to 12 months. This extended benefit means more low-income pregnant people will have access to essential health care throughout the first year of their child’s life.

It took more than this federal law to ensure that states enacted the policy. Fortunately, Pennsylvania leaders just took the step to implement this extended benefit. In doing so, they took one of the biggest steps they could to address the maternal health crisis, demonstrating through the state Medicaid program that health care should be a human right that does not discriminate.

The new federal law also thankfully recognized the essential, but underappreciated, role that oral health plays in protecting the health of babies and their mothers by allowing states to extend oral health coverage for one year postpartum.

This should have an immediate effect. Approximately 4 in 10 of all pregnant women have tooth decay or gum disease from changing hormones, and those that do are at higher risk for poor birth outcomes, such as low birth weight, preterm delivery and risk of preeclampsia. Poor oral health raises a pregnant person’s risk of high blood pressure, a precursor to preeclampsia, which can lead to major complications and even death. And children are three times more likely to have dental disease if their mother was not able to receive dental care during pregnancy. These kinds of preventable complications and poor health outcomes place additional financial stress on individuals, the health care system and state budgets.

This expanded view of postpartum coverage gives me hope — as a physician, mother and advocate — for a more accessible and equitable future where oral health is integral to overall health care.

The act of having a child should be one of the most joyful moments of any parent’s life. I applaud Pennsylvania leaders for seizing the opportunity to expand maternal health coverage to help make sure fear and anxiety don’t overshadow those parental joys.

Myechia Minter-Jordan, MD, is president and CEO of the CareQuest Institute for Oral Health and former CEO of the Dimock Center in Roxbury, Mass..