As lawmakers resumed the legislative session on June 15, Georgia’s maternal mortality crisis took a backseat to budget talks, and even more Georgia women will die as a consequence.
Georgia consistently ranks among the worst in the nation for maternal mortality, yet the breakdown in the health-care system due to COVID-19 has only exacerbated existing access issues in maternity care. Local grassroots organizations focused on maternal health worry that recent progress on the issue will be undone amid continued calls for budget cuts from Gov. Brian Kemp.
Before the pandemic, the state House of Representatives passed legislation (HB 1114) and a corresponding budget line item to extend Medicaid up to six months postpartum for eligible women, who otherwise would lose medical coverage only 60 days after delivery. There is wide community support to move HB 1114 forward despite the call to slash agency budgets. Additionally, the proposed budget cuts take aim at essential maternal health programs that have been working to reverse the maternal mortality trend in our state. Programs working to prevent maternal mortality through hospital-based initiatives, increase access to psychiatric care for mothers, establish a Center of Maternal Health Equity and provide perinatal education support in rural areas are all in jeopardy of being eliminated.
Grassroots organizations have risen to the occasion and are urging lawmakers to do the same. One Georgia-based organization has developed a COVID-19 resource guide for families. Another organization has released guidance on Safeguarding Maternal Health & Rights during COVID-19. Access to perinatal care appointments and doula services, restrictions on support partners during labor and delivery, limited access to community midwives and telemedicine limitations are only a few of the barriers families face during the pandemic and beyond. To help alleviate some of these barriers, one organization is using a Birth Justice Fund to help families pay for safe births during the pandemic. They have covered the price of over 20 births with midwives so far and are also covering doula services and birth educators.
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