Pregnancy

A proposal by Republican state Sen. Mary Elizabeth Coleman would outlaw the use of restraints on pregnant women in the third trimester, during labor and for the first 48 hours postpartum “except in extraordinary circumstances.” Missouri banned the practice in state prisons in 2018.

The rule, which will last for six months, was a response to "an immediate danger to the public health, safety or welfare of pregnant women in Missouri," according to the state Department of Social Services. Missouri has some of the worst maternal mortality rates in the U.S.

For every 100,000 births in Missouri between 2017 and 2021, more than 32 people died because of pregnancy-related complications — an average of 70 deaths annually.

The Missouri House advanced a bill that would prevent pregnant inmates in their third trimester from being restrained, except under extraordinary circumstances. The bill would also create certain health care requirements for pregnant inmates and reverse the prohibition on nonviolent drug offenders receiving SNAP benefits.

In the majority of Missouri’s rising cases of congenital syphilis, mothers had little to no prenatal care, highlighting a larger issue of maternal health care access. Legislation introduced in the House and Senate aims to address the crisis.

Newly introduced legislation in Illinois seeks to expand insurance coverage or offer incentives for fertility care.

In Missouri and Nebraska, information about maternal mortality rates among Hispanic women is not reliable. That’s a challenge for health care organizations that depend on those statistics to send resources to that population.

"It’s more like gambling than it is health care," said one woman about infertility treatments, "because you’re wagering significant amounts of money... and you might come out with nothing."

The reproduction process is especially poorly understood by scientists.

A new study from the U.S. Department of Agriculture found that the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children was underutilized. In 2021, it served only about half the number of those who qualified.