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UVA Nursing School spotlights problems with maternal care

UVA will screen a new documentary about care before, during and after childbirth, followed by a panel discussion.
American Delivery
UVA will screen a new documentary about care before, during and after childbirth, followed by a panel discussion.

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.”

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.

Sandy Hausman is Radio IQ's Charlottesville Bureau Chief