July is Maternal Health Awareness Month.
The Virginia Department of Health (VDH) is reminding people how important it is for women to stay healthy during and after pregnancy. It also promotes actions that improve health outcomes for both pregnant women and infants.
While Virginia has made progress, there’s still work to do. The cases of adverse maternal and birth outcomes are high and are rising for Black women. Many maternal deaths are preventable. Several factors cause poor health outcomes, including:
- Lack of care coordination
- Limited access to health care
- Nutrición
- Chronic illnesses
VDH recently established a maternal health dashboard. It provides information by health district, as well as at the county and city level. The dashboard displays a variety of information about maternal health, including:
- Nacimiento prematuro
- Birth weight
- Mortalidad infantil
- Atención prenatal
- Maternal smoking
Maternal health programs can be enhanced or created using information from the dashboard. In addition, Virginia recently passed a series of bills focused on improving maternal health. Among them are the “safety bundles” to protect mothers and infants.
For more information and resources about maternal health, visit VDH’s maternal health webpage.