2022 HEALTH CARE EDITION
ADDRESSING THE ISSUE Both state- and county-level entities are working to reduce maternal mortality and morbidity. House Bill 133 was passed in 2021, allowing Texas mothers to keep Medicaid coverage for six months after childbirth — up from the two months previously allotted. The Texas Department of State Health Services launched the Harris County Public Health is launching a program geared toward Black maternal health by the end of the year. The Texas Maternal Mortality and Morbidity Taskforce Review Committee reviews pregnancy-related deaths for trends and recommends best practices. TexasAIM initiative in 2018 to better equip hospitals to prevent pregnancy and birth complications.
UNINSURED POPULATIONS
BIRTH RATES ON THE DECLINE Women are tending to have children later in life, experts said, which has led to a declining birth rate and higher risks in pregnancy.
Texas has among the lowest rates of residents with health insurance coverage, and Harris County’s uninsured rates are even higher.
All residents
12.7%
Asian Black Hispanic White
Births per 1,000 women ages 15-44
16.2%
Harris County
32%
2007 2019
8.4%
20.4%
81.5
79.2
11.2%
69.1
65
15%
62.5
58.3
Texas
26.8%
9.9%
About 41,000 Cy-Fair women did not have health insurance coverage as of 2020
17%
6.4%
9.9%
U.S.
17.7%
Harris County
Texas
U.S.
5.9%
8.7%
SOURCE: CENTERS FOR DISEASE CONTROL AND PREVENTION COMMUNITY IMPACT NEWSPAPER
SOURCES: 2020 AMERICAN COMMUNITY SURVEY 5 YEAR ESTIMATES COMMUNITY IMPACT NEWSPAPER
until later in pregnancy due to the lengthy process of obtaining Medic- aid coverage, she said. Texas has declined to expand its Medicaid program, which the Kaiser Family Foundation reported based on 2020 data would make 1.4 mil- lion additional nonelderly uninsured adults eligible for coverage. Postponing pregnancy Dimino said when she started her career 17 years ago, many of her patients were having children in their 20s, and now she is seeing more women wait until their 30s and even 40s to have children. “For many of them, it’s getting to a point in their career that they’ve invested in in order to support having a family. They’ve delayed nding a partner; they’ve delayed childbearing speci cally for their career,” she said. “And then once they are in that posi- tion, they are nancially not having as many kids not just because of age, but the cost of raising a child is expensive.” Harris County’s birth rate dropped 20% from 81.5 births per 1,000
also undergone bias training to help ensure Black women receive the same level of care as their peers. Marshall said education is key to equipping mothers to not only care for their babies, but to also care for themselves. “Overall, for me it’s going to be education—making people aware that pregnancy is serious. The rewards are great, but the complications and the risk factors are as great, and one needs to be responsible,” Marshall said. Statewide, nearly all hospitals that deliver babies participate in the TexasAIM to Reduce Maternal Mor- tality & Morbidity program, a DSHS initiative launched in 2018 to imple- ment best practices in hospitals. At the county level, Brown said HCPH is planning to establish a com- prehensive program by the end of the year to target the county’s Black mater- nal mortality and morbidity rates. The initiative will help remove barriers to resources. While useful services may already exist, those who do not own a vehicle, for instance, may not be able to access them due to Harris County’s
women in 2007 to 65 in 2019, accord- ing to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Dimino said that trend has since been exacerbated as women have delayed pregnancy due to the pandemic. The longer women wait to con- ceive, the more risks they can face in pregnancy and childbirth. The NCHS reported mothers age 40 and older faced a maternal mortality rate of 107.9 per 100,000 births in 2020. Women ages 25-39 died at a rate of 22.8 per 100,000 births. “I think you have to respect the fact that there are higher risks as a woman gets older in terms of getting preg- nant,” said Dr. June Marshall, who serves the Cy-Fair location of Tomball Woman’s Healthcare Center and is an OB GYN on sta with HCA Houston
SOURCES: HARRIS COUNTY PUBLIC HEALTH, TEXAS DEPARTMENT OF STATE HEALTH SERVICES COMMUNITY IMPACT NEWSPAPER
lack of a robust transit system. “There’s a lack of education on many levels on what it looks like to remove barriers to care—whether it be wellness, clinical care, education, mental health, substance misuse,” Brown said. “To have a program is one thing, … but to be purposeful in removing barriers so that those who need it most can take advantage of the program is another.” Hannah Zedaker contributed to this report.
Healthcare Tomball. Reducing the rates
One way local hospital systems such as HCA Houston Healthcare help care for mothers is by o ering prenatal education. Media Relations Director Annette Garber said sta has
For more information, visit communityimpact.com .
Cypress 8350 N. Fry Rd., Ste. 400 Cypress, TX 77433 Copperfield 8100 Hwy. 6 North, Ste. E Houston, TX 77095
Because wrapping your kids in bubble wrap isn’t
an option. Open 9am – 9pm, 7 days a week
25
CY FAIR EDITION • JUNE 2022
Powered by FlippingBook