(The Center Square) – In a heartwrenching series of testimonies, the House Democratic Policy Committee heard about the factors influencing infant and maternal mortality Thursday, an issue that disproportionately affects Black women and children in the commonwealth.
Maternity deserts, labor shortages, unmet mental health needs, substance use, high health care costs, and dwindling social supports were all among the issues on which the panelists elaborated.
Rep. Gina Curry, D-Upper Darby, noted that infant mortality jumped by 35% from 2021 to 2022. Meanwhile, the majority of maternal deaths in the state come in the postpartum year following a baby’s birth, often due to preventable causes.
“What we’re witnessing is a crisis that touches health care, economics, and racial injustice,” said Curry, a member of the Black Maternal Health Caucus. “No Pennsylvania family should ever have to worry if their ZIP code, their income, or the color of their skin determines whether their child survives their first year of life.”
One such lost child was Tashia Bishop’s first son. Bishop, a Black woman, attended the hearing with her doula at her side, a service now covered by Medicaid in the state. She told the harrowing story of a birth process filled with dead-ends, from what she said was inadequate assistance with her own addiction during pregnancy to repeatedly being told she was an “anxious first-time mom” on trips to the hospital and pediatrician.
Her son died after several months of Bishop’s worries about his breathing being dismissed or attributed to asthma despite being unresponsive to therapies. An autopsy revealed that his cause of death was a lung condition, pulmonary dysplasia, combined with pneumonia. A simple chest X-ray would have caught both conditions.
“Now that I have a second child, it’s hard for me to enjoy him 100% as I have a lot of fear that my second son will also pass away,” said Bishop.
That second son, Bishop reports, is happy and healthy, something she was able to confirm with a newborn screening for potential diseases or genetic conditions. She advocated for screening to be common practice for new babies.
Dr. Aasta Mehta, director of Maternal, Child, and Family Health for the City of Philadelphia, emphasized that it’s a systemic issue largely within the control of the legislature. She compared the state to neighboring New Jersey.
“Don’t tell me what you value. Show me your budget,” said Mehta, borrowing from President Joe Biden. “I know Pennsylvania is a very different state than New Jersey, but I get very jealous when I see, like, the $61 million investment in maternal health care.”
One major challenge has been making it affordable for hospitals to serve new moms, especially those using Medicaid. Expense has been a contributing factor to hospital closures and expanding maternity deserts, not only in rural regions but in southeastern Pennsylvania, which is home to no less than five medical schools.
“Pennsylvania has seen dramatic loss of maternity care access over the past 25 years,” said Dr. Melissa Patti, director of Maternal and Infant Health Initiatives at the area March of Dimes. “Twenty-one of our 67 counties have no hospitals or birth centers with maternity care services, and nearly half of Pennsylvania counties rely on one birthing facility.”
Testifiers shared that many of their concerns will soon be greatly exacerbated by changes to federal policy including vaccine access, Medicaid and Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, benefits.
Asked what in the rapidly changing federal landscape had her most worried, Dr. Meg Frizzola, chief medical officer at Nemours Children’s Health, Delaware Valley, told legislators that vaccine access was at the top of the list.
“We’re going to see polio again. We’re about to see a measles outbreak again. We are not able as a nation any longer to address these outbreaks,” said Frizzola. “That’s what’s currently keeping me most up at night.”
To that end, Pennsylvania legislators have taken strides to protect vaccine access by introducing bills that would allow pharmacists to continue prescribing common vaccines, like those recommended annually for influenza and COVID-19.
On Thursday, the state formally joined eight others in the Northeast Public Health Collaborative to work together on public health issues. Though collaboration began in January, the states have made it official as both the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Department of Health and Human Services have fallen into dramatic public disarray.
Asked the same question about federal worries, Dr. Lora Werner of the Delaware County Health Department was nearly at a loss for words.
“It’s the universe of challenges upon challenges,” said Werner. “That’s what keeps all of us up.”
