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Keywords

maternal care, pregnancy, maternal mortality, southern states, postnatal care, Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2023, CAA, Further Consolidating Appropriations Act of 2024, FCAA, midwife, doula

Abstract

Maternal care has reached a terrifying deficit in the United States. Masses of women throughout this nation are dying preventable deaths resulting from extremely lacking prenatal, birthing, delivery, and postnatal care. This is a silent epidemic. Why is the United States failing so miserably in comparison to its fellow developed countries? Why does the gap appear to be widening more and more each day? Various factors lend themselves to an explanation: general factors like the overall shortage of maternal care providers, as well as specific ones such as the not-so surprising fact that the United States is the only developed nation not to mandate or guarantee paid maternity leave in the postpartum period. Overall, “[i]nadequate access to health services before, during, and after pregnancy, combined with disparities in socioeconomic status, underlying health, and quality of care, have helped drive the maternal mortality rate in the U.S. higher than that of other high-income countries.”

The United States has taken steps through federal legislation to battle its unsettling maternal mortality statistics. Legislation such as the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2023 (“CAA”) and the Further Consolidating Appropriations Act of 2024 (“FCAA”) have purported to bravely battle this epidemic by contributing mass funds for the expansion of Medicaid coverage, increasing perinatal15 mental health screenings, and providing clinics to maternal care deserts. However, these efforts are falling short.

This Comment examines and addresses the root causes of maternal mortality in the United States, with a specific focus on the role states in the southern region play in maintaining this nation’s leading ranking in maternal mortality. Part II closely inspects the contributing factors causing maternal death and the states where these factors are more condensed, as well as the efforts Congress has taken to alleviate this massive healthcare problem. Part III analyzes subsequent southern states’ interactions with those federal efforts. Part IV introduces potential solutions of implementing midwife and doula programs to combat the maternal mortality statistics stemming from southern states. Part V synthesizes the findings, calling on southern states to more closely inspect their role in this matter.

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