ALLENTOWN Pa. — Leaders of three state departments came together Friday in Allentown to discuss maternal health, as the Shapiro administration works to improve the health outcomes of mothers across Pennsylvania.
"We're really trying to make sure we work together to address that crisis and make sure that every mother and baby in Pennsylvania has access to optimal quality health care and related services,” Acting Health Secretary Dr. Debra Bogen said.
The state departments of Health, Human Services and Drug and Alcohol Programs are joining forces to let people know what’s being done to improve maternal health, especially in people of color.
“The data speak to the fact that they have provided care, pregnancy care, for close to 100 women last year. And none of them delivered a low-birth-weight infant and that is remarkable. We should celebrate that work."Pennsylvania Acting Health Secretary Dr. Debra Bogen
The three agencies visited Neighborhood Health Centers of the Lehigh Valley, or NHCLV, on Hamilton Street. Bogen said they chose the center because of the example it sets.
"This is an exemplar organization that really does work to meet the needs of families where they live,” Bogen said. “The data speak to the fact that they have provided care, pregnancy care, for close to 100 women last year.
"And none of them delivered a low-birth-weight infant and that is remarkable. We should celebrate that work."
Come back to the same place
Bogen was joined by Human Services Secretary Dr. Val Arkoosh, who also took the podium to speak at NHCLV.
"One of the things that prevents, particularly black birthing women, from seeking services is that sometimes they don't feel safe. Sometimes there are language barriers. Sometimes people just don't feel heard and a place like this is safe, welcoming, treats everybody who walks in the door with dignity and it's in the community, and it makes people feel comfortable.”Pennsylvania Human Services Secretary Dr. Val Arkoosh
"One of the things that prevents, particularly black birthing women, from seeking services is that sometimes they don't feel safe," Arkooth said.
"Sometimes there are language barriers. Sometimes people just don't feel heard and a place like this is safe, welcoming, treats everybody who walks in the door with dignity and it's in the community, and it makes people feel comfortable.”
NHCLV Chief Executive Officer Melissa Miranda said, "We focus on low-risk pregnancies, and we partner with the local hospitals to make sure that anybody who has a more elevated risk can be followed more closely.”
"Family medicine is all about from prenatal through life span, and when we can include OB care as part of that, then people start to think of that in a very old person way, right?
"So you're pregnant and then after you're done having the pregnancy and you have the baby in your arms, you can come right back to the same place that you were.”
'Make moms safe'
The visit came a week after an announcement about grant money being offered through the governor’s office to community agencies to form coalitions on maternal health.
In 2020, Pennsylvania saw 83 pregnancy-associated deaths per 100,000 live births, and Black women were nearly twice as likely to die during pregnancy or in the first year after pregnancy than white women, according to the state Health Department.
Arkoosh explained that the three state agencies have different programs and funding that can help reach the goal of improving maternal health on a community level if they all work together.
"We have an unacceptably high maternal mortality rate here in the Commonwealth."Dr. Val Arkoosh, Secretary of Human Services
"We have an unacceptably high maternal mortality rate here in the Commonwealth, and myself at DHS, my colleagues at the Department of Health and the Department of Drug and Alcohol programs are all here to say this is unacceptable, and we're working together to improve those statistics and make moms safe," she said.
Deputy Secretary of Drug and Alcohol Programs Kelly Primus added, “We are here today to also talk about supporting women who are having substance-use disorders while they're pregnant and after pregnancy, and to promote health and serve in health care and services to improve health outcomes for both the women and the children."
Gov. Josh Shapiro is proposing to double the state's investment by $2.6 million to improve maternal health in his latest budget.
