Far too many Fort Worth women are dying after childbirth. Here’s what we can do
Too many new mothers and infants are dying in Texas.
Shockingly, the U.S. is the only developed country in the world where maternal death rates — deaths while pregnant or within one year after giving birth — are rising. In the public health region that includes Tarrant County, maternal deaths happened at a rate of 25.4 per 100,000 live births, higher than the state rate of 25.2 deaths.
At the same time, the infant death rate — deaths before a child’s first birthday — in the same region is 6.0 per 1,000 live births, also above the statewide rate of 5.6 deaths.
This is unacceptable.
In a region with abundant resources such as North Texas, mothers and their infants should not face such high risk of early death. To begin to reverse this trend, our community has to address several key maternal risk factors for poor outcomes of pregnancy:
Fort Worth ranks in the second-highest category of live births to mothers who were obese pre-pregnancy. This puts the mother at higher risk for complications that include preeclampsia, gestational diabetes, congenital anomalies and fetal death.
Fort Worth mothers are in the highest category for smoking during pregnancy, which increases the risk of low birth weight, preterm birth and certain birth defects. It may also increase a child’s risk of obesity, asthma, and high blood pressure later in life.
Fort Worth mothers are in the highest category of mothers who received no prenatal care, which is vital for managing chronic health conditions during pregnancy and preventing premature birth and neonatal and infant death.
Furthermore, the infant death rate is a leading health indicator that provides insight into the health of our infants and mothers. There are wide disparities. One study found that the infant mortality rate in Fort Worth was more than six times higher in the 76164 zip code than in neighboring 76107.
UNT Health Science Center has been working to solve these problems. Dr. Raines Milenkov leads a team that prepares cases for review by the Texas Maternal Mortality and Morbidity Review Committee, as well as the HSC Healthy Start Program that provides services to improve women’s and family’s health before, during and after pregnancy.
Dr. Wagner is addressing the issue of low maternal-health literacy. Abating low health literacy can better help moms understand the risks of obesity and smoking on pregnancy and importance of prenatal care. Dr. Wagner also led a team that developed the What About Mom? App, which helps teach postpartum moms to take care of their health.
But it’s not enough. Our community must come together to address the gap in transitional care between maternity care and well-woman care. There exists no standardized system to transition women from these two related phases. We should prioritize the health of women across the life course with a focus on the critical childbearing years.
We owe it to our mothers and their babies.