JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (KMIZ)
Missouri health leaders say the state needs to do more to lower rates of maternal mortality in their annual report.
The annual report on Maternal Mortality in Missouri looks at five years of data. The Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services released the study commissioned by the Pregnancy-Associated Mortality Review Board last week. It recommends that the Missouri legislature establish and fund many perinatal resources and extend and expand Medicaid coverage for mothers.
The recently published report brings together five years of work and latest data gathered from between 2017 and 2021. This is the first time a continuous five-year report has been available.
The report’s findings spanned various topics and factors surrounding maternal mortality, such as health-related deaths, substance use and non-pregnancy-related incidents. Data also focused on different demographic factors like race and economic status when analyzing any disparities in the results.