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Inspired By A Modest North Carolina Program, New Bills Aim To Lower Maternal Mortality Rates In The U.S. | HuffPost <br />https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/maternal-mortality-rate-social-causes_us_5b87276ae4b0511db3d47c1c?4is[8/30/2018 1:42:41 PM] <br />percent, said Kate Berrien, a director at Community Care of North Carolina, the nonprofit that <br />operates the state’s pregnancy medical home program. Preterm births were also down 7 <br />percent from 2011 to 2014. <br />In other states that have run pilot programs, the results are similarly encouraging. A small, <br />year-long experiment conducted with pregnant Medicaid patients in Texas found that <br />hospitals were able to cut down on visits to the emergency room and inpatient hospital days <br />for pregnant women, saving about $330,000 in ER services and almost $500,000 in inpatient <br />care. <br />A final analysis of this experiment also found that these Texas mothers were also significantly <br />less likely to deliver by C-section and that their newborns were significantly less likely to be <br />admitted to neonatal intensive care. <br />Michael Lu, senior associate dean at the George Washington University School of Public <br />Health and former director of the federal Maternal and Child Health Bureau in the Obama <br />administration, praised North Carolina’s program but also said it would be prudent to wait for a <br />more comprehensive evaluation before scaling it nationwide as Harris has outlined in her bill. <br />Still, he did agree that social issues can be a major stressor on bodies ― especially ones that <br />are already experiencing the physical stress of a normal pregnancy. <br />Lu compared the pressure of homelessness, unemployment and violence to the gunning of a <br />car engine ― sooner or later, the engine is going to wear out. <br />“Unemployment, poor housing, family and neighborhood violence, the lack of partner and <br />social support, and the experience of racism can affect pregnancy outcomes by causing <br />chronic stress, which in turn can cause wear and tear on the body’s organs and systems,” Lu <br />said. “That’s how these social determinants not only get under the skin but also get inside the <br />womb to affect pregnancy outcomes.” <br />Harris’ office hopes that this moment in history, when the American public is galvanized <br />around the issue of maternal mortality, will help pave the way for the senator’s bill and others <br />like it.