Maternal Health Heroes
October 2019
What is the mission of Texans Care For Children?
“Our mission is to drive policy change to improve the lives of Texas children today for a stronger Texas tomorrow.
We are a statewide, non-profit, non-partisan, multi-issue children's policy organization. We develop policy solutions, produce research, and engage Texas community leaders to educate policymakers, the media, and the public about what works to improve the well-being of Texas children and families.”
Why does maternal health matter to you?
“We envision a Texas in which all children grow up to be healthy, safe, successful, and on a path to fulfill their promise — and we know that starts with healthy moms.
If you care about Texas kids, you have to support policies that help women get the health care they need to be healthy before they are pregnant, during their pregnancy, during childbirth, and after childbirth.”
What is something you think Texas is doing well when it comes to combatting maternal mortality?
The state’s Maternal Mortality and Morbidity Review Committee is doing important work. We appreciate the leadership the Review Committee has shown in helping Texas policymakers, health care providers, and others understand maternal health.
One of the important things that the Review Committee has done is to highlight that maternal mortality isn’t the only maternal health problem that we face in Texas. Maternal mortality is a real problem for our state and nationwide, but it’s also important to remember that our state’s inadequate policies contribute to many serious maternal and infant health problems — such as pregnancy complications, preterm births, and postpartum depression — that dwarf the number of maternal deaths.
Where do you see opportunities for Texas/Texans to improve maternal health?
One fundamental step Texas needs to take is making sure that moms with low incomes have a way to get health coverage.
A lot of people don’t realize this, but in Texas, women with low incomes typically can only get Medicaid health insurance during their pregnancy or if they have a disability that is so serious they can’t work. The Legislature should accept the Medicaid expansion funding offered by the federal government to provide an insurance option to child care teachers, janitors, cooks, and other uninsured low-wage workers. While our current state leaders oppose that step at the moment, they should at least extend Medicaid health coverage to new moms to cover a full year after childbirth. Texas has the worst uninsured rate in the nation, and legislators should make that issue a top priority for the next legislative session.
What has been your biggest takeaway or discovery since starting your work to improve maternal health?
Over the last several years, we and others have realized how important it is to address racial disparities and disproportionality in maternal and infant health. We have also learned from the experts that
It is important to be very intentional about how we highlight those statistics so we aren’t accidentally reinforcing stereotypes and allowing our audience to "blame the victims."
We don’t always get it right, but we try to follow best practices that suggest starting the conversation by showing that there is a broader policy problem, explaining why the disparities exist, and highlighting solutions.
How can people support the ways in which you are involved in improving maternal health?
Adriana Kohler (Senior Health Policy Associate for TCFC) and our Outreach & Policy Coordinators Kaycee Crisp and Whitney Thurman at the 2019 Healthier Texas Summit where they presented about leveraging faith communities to advocate for maternal health.
Being involved with Circle Up is a great start! We also suggest talking with your state legislators and candidates for office to educate them on the issue and let them know that maternal health should be a priority for the next legislative session. You can get more resources and stay up-to-date by visiting the health policy page on our website, signing up for our maternal and child health email updates, following us or Adriana Kohler from our team on Twitter, and following us on Facebook.
When it comes to maternal health, what is the accomplishment or victory in which you take the most pride?
Can we name two? During the recent legislative session, we helped lead the successful effort to ensure that more moms have transportation to prenatal care and postpartum appointments. And two years ago, we successfully worked with legislators and partners to pass a bill to give 200,000 new moms access to screening for postpartum depression.
What else do you want people to know about the ways in which you or your organization is helping to improve maternal health in Texas?
Since our organization focuses on multiple issues that affect children and families, our work on maternal health is able to connect the dots to other issues that are often interwoven with maternal health. For example, our policy staff members with expertise in maternal health and Child Protective Services have collaborated on our work to improve the ways the state responds to pregnant women with a substance use disorder. For moms and families, real life doesn’t happen one issue or one state agency or one legislative committee at a time. It’s all mixed together, so we try to tie these issues together in our research, analysis, advocacy, and our communications.