And now it is time to hear from one of the advocates whose work goes on, even when it is no longer news. Tiffany McKever is a digital healthcare strategist, whose work has included researching and developing a Population Health Initiative with a focus on environmental factors related to social determinants of health (SDOH) resulting in significant impacts to healthcare cost access and quality in large urban cities. We turn to her to update us on the state of maternal mortality across the US, as part of our ongoing coverage of this issue (see https://www.fiftyfaceshub.com/category/medicine-and-science/ for other podcasts relating to the topic).

In the US, maternal and women’s health more broadly remains at the forefront of political discourse as states diverge in their approach and the US Supreme Court recently overturned Roe v. Wade. While the Covid pandemic laid bare the disparate experiences of different communities relating to social determinants of health, ongoing news relating to maternal mortality and injury rates that are not evenly spread in the community indicate that this is clearly an issue that is no closer to resolution.

Our conversation starts with some definitions, and updates us on the current state of maternal mortality statistics in the US. We dive in to possible causes as well as solutions that are likely to contribute to alleviating the problem, in particular some spending earmarked by the Biden administration to address women’s health in particular. This is a conversation that sadly continues to run, with little obvious resolution. Watch this space for ongoing coverage of this subject.