To support the best outcomes for moms and babies, pregnant women must have timely access to quality prenatal care. Florida currently has the third highest rate in the country of pregnant women receiving delayed or even no prenatal care at all.
A staggering 11.4 percent of pregnant women in the Sunshine State receive no or late prenatal care, an increase of 25 percent from just three years ago.
Without timely recommended prenatal care, women go without screenings for hypertension, which, left unchecked, can lead to preeclampsia, a life-threatening condition for mom and baby. They miss out on regular growth checks to detect fetal growth restriction, which can require early delivery and pre-delivery medications for a baby’s healthy lung development. They go without screening for mental health conditions, which account for nearly one quarter of pregnancy-related deaths across the nation. The consequences are seen in an unacceptably high maternal death rate: 17.9 deaths per 100,000 live births nationwide. For Black women, the rate is shockingly two-and-a-half times higher.
We have the data demonstrating the scope of the problem, and we have the data to tell us the causes.
Too many women experience a lack of transportation and childcare, insufficient language/interpreter assistance, financial insecurity, inflexible appointment availability, separation of physical and behavioral health services, and lack of post-delivery follow-up. According to the Florida Association of Community Health Centers’ Maternal Health Provider survey, for a woman experiencing four different barriers to timely care, the result is that she enters prenatal care nearly a full trimester later, increasing the likelihood of poorer outcomes.
Hospitals across the state are committed to enhancing outcomes for new and expectant mothers. However, this work is multifaceted and requires strong collaboration with state and community partners to close the gap for these women. There are myriad programs across the state dedicated to supporting perinatal women at different points along their journey. Hospitals partner with these programs to ensure women have access to the care and resources they need to support a safe and healthy pregnancy and post-partum period.
Programs like Florida BH IMPACT (Improving Maternal and Pediatric Access Care and Treatment), a public-private partnership of the Florida Department of Health (DOH), the Florida State University (FSU) College of Medicine, the Florida Maternal Mental Health Collaborative (FLMMHC), and health care provider groups, build the capacity of maternity providers to address their patients’ behavioral health needs through professional development, dissemination of best practices, and psychiatric consultation for patient-specific questions and needs. The goal is integrated, single-site care that addresses pregnant women’s physical and behavioral health needs so that intervention is more proactive, timely, and holistic.
Over five years, more than 400 maternity care providers have enrolled in BH Impact, with the psychiatric consultation service supporting care for more than 440 pregnant patients. The program has also trained more than 3,100 maternity providers in best practices, evidence-based screening, and management of common perinatal behavioral health conditions, such as depression and anxiety. The state’s Telehealth Maternity Care Program (TMCP) enhances access to care for women who are unable to seek care in person. Hospitals across the state provide no-cost prenatal and postpartum care through telehealth to reduce geographic, logistical, and financial barriers to timely care. In 2023-24, TMCP served more than 6,000 women, reducing emergency department visits and post-partum hospitalizations through improved access to timely care. It also increased the number of referrals to Healthy Start, the state’s home visitation initiative providing access to social services, educational resources, and supportive care for women and their infants. From the Start is another partnership through which Medicaid, its contracted managed care plans, hospitals, and maternity providers collaborate so that every mother has access to the care, support, and resources needed from pregnancy through the first post-partum year. Standardizing and paying for a range of services, including remote patient monitoring, home meal delivery, and mobile obstetric services, is one of the initiative’s tactics.
Every woman deserves a healthy pregnancy, and every child deserves the best start. Building out the continuum of care for pregnant women and for postpartum moms is essential to transforming lives and changing outcomes. When we work together as stakeholders with a shared goal of supporting these comprehensive maternal health needs, we strengthen Florida’s system of care for present and future generations.
Mary C. Mayhew is president and CEO Florida Hospital Association.
This article originally appeared on Fort Myers News-Press: Partnerships are key to improving maternal health outcomes | Opinion
Reporting by Mary C. Mayhew / Fort Myers News-Press
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
