In 2021, 47 women in Virginia died while giving birth or soon after. The number has been dropping steadily since then, but Black women are at a much greater risk. And why would that be?
“It has nothing at all to do with genetics,” says UVA Nursing Professor Emily Evans. She notes access to care is a big problem for pregnant women and new mothers in poor and rural communities.
“There are things like food scarcity, difficulty of obtaining care, difficulty traveling to a care center or not having a program where someone could come to you.”
And she says this state could do a better job of educating healthcare professionals about emergency care during and after birth, and we need to provide better support for new moms.
“It might look like a peer support group. It might look like an individual rural nurse visiting women. The truth is a lot of women are very isolated.”
She’ll join a panel discussion on the subject at UVA’s School of Nursing, tomorrow at 5:30, following a new documentary called American Delivery: Solving the Maternal Mortality Crisis in U.S. Healthcare.
