FLORENCE, Ky. — Lowering Kentucky's high rate of maternal mortality is the goal of one bill awaiting a vote in the Kentucky Legislature.
For Abby Loftus-Smith, obstetrician-gynecologist with St. Elizabeth Physicians, one of the toughest parts of her job is telling expecting mothers there could be complications with their pregnancy, she said.
“We do see the women that come in when it’s much too late, and they’ve not had any access to care ... on the flip side, we’ve seen people that come in that they think they’re fine, but as we start doing screenings, it’s like, 'Oh, gosh. We’ve got a lot of medical issues we need to address.'”
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) data gathered by Kaiser Family Foundation, Kentucky has the second-highest maternal mortality rate in the U.S., with 37 out of 100,000 women dying during or within 42 days after childbirth.
“The thinking, currently, is about 60% of those events could probably be avoided with proper care and collaboration of services,” Loftus-Smith said. “Unfortunately, we’re not the healthiest state, which doesn’t help. We know that mothers who have more medical problems, hypertension, diabetes, they have higher mortality rates. We have a higher substance abuse population than other states, which also plays a role.”
Aimed at lowering the state's maternal mortality rate, House Bill 10, also referred to as the "Momnibus Bill" by some supporters, would ensure pregnancy is a qualifying life event for insurance coverage. It would also include mental health consultation for mothers during the perinatal period.
State Rep. Kim Moser, R-Taylor Mill, said the proposal seeks to ensure mothers and babies in Kentucky have access to the best care available and the best chance at a healthy start in life.
“Experts who we’ve talked to and have worked with through this process all say that nearly all maternal deaths are preventable," Moser said.
Moser’s bill would address the leading cause of maternal deaths: lack of access to health care. Some health insurance policies only cover the delivery of the baby and not the pre- or postnatal care.
Jennifer Mooney, district director of the Northern Kentucky Health Department, said she thinks the bill could go a long way in keeping women safe.
“To expand medical coverage at an earlier point, I think is a common sense thing," Mooney said. "The earlier that women can get into prenatal care, the earlier that potential health care issues can be identified and then addressed during pregnancy."
"I think right now, we’re on the cusp of really seeing this explode in conversation. There’s an actual dialogue going on about how important it is to examine these factors.”
Loftus-Smith said she knows how it feels when people expect the best day of their life to potentially become the end of their life and supports any efforts to prevent that from happening.
“They want to be healthy," she said. "They want their babies to be healthy. They just don’t know where or how to get those resources. There are too many barriers in place."