Policy Impact

Fewer pregnant people in the U.S. are getting prenatal care. The Dobbs decision plays a role. (Credit: João Paulo de Souza Oliveira, Pexels) For pregnant people in the U.S., finding prenatal care is becoming increasingly difficult – and as a result, many are going without this critical healthcare altogether. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention published a new report this week which says that the amount of expecting parents foregoing prenatal care altogether increased from 2.2% in 2022 to 2.3% in 2023. It’s a slight increase – but experts are alarmed. Dr. Kathryn Lindley, a cardio-obstetrician at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, Tennessee, told NBC News that “there’s a lot of baby monitoring that goes on during pregnancy to help us identify any potential health problems,” including birth defects or warning signs for conditions like preeclampsia. “It’s really important that all these things get identified and monitored, to make sure that both the mom and the baby have a healthy outcome,” she added. One factor making it harder to access such critical OB/GYN care? Restrictive abortion policies. A July 2024 study by nonpartisan healthcare research outfit The Commonwealth Fund revealed that, in addition to struggling to afford prenatal care, pregnant people are having trouble even finding providers in states where abortion laws are most prohibitive. “These inequities are long-standing, no doubt,” Dr. Joseph Betancourt, president of The Commonwealth Fund, said during a media briefing attended by NBC News last month. “But recent policy choices and judicial decisions restricting access to reproductive care have and may continue to exacerbate them.” The Commonwealth Fund’s report found that, following the June 2022 Dobbs decision that overturned Roe v. Wade and revoked federal-level abortion protection, the states with the least permissive abortion laws in place – Texas and Mississippi, for example – performed especially poorly in providing such care to state residents. “Women’s health is in a very fragile place,” lead author Sara Collins, vice president for health care coverage and access and tracking health system performance at The Commonwealth Fund, said during the press call. “Our health system is failing women of reproductive age, especially women of color and low-income women.”

Policy Impact

CDC: A Growing Number of Women Aren’t Getting Prenatal Care

The Story Exchange

Policy Impact

CDC: A Growing Number of Women Aren’t Getting Prenatal Care

The Story Exchange

Follow