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Sowmya Kuruganti, Analyst with ASTHO’s Family and Child Health Team, discusses disturbing numbers surrounding overdose-related deaths among pregnant and postpartum people; Shelby McCulley, Director of the Bureau of Youth Services at the Wisconsin...
Sowmya Kuruganti, Analyst with ASTHO’s Family and Child Health Team, discusses disturbing numbers surrounding overdose-related deaths among pregnant and postpartum people; Shelby McCulley, Director of the Bureau of Youth Services at the Wisconsin Department of Children and Families, says treating youth health as public health could help reduce the number of youth arrested and incarcerated; an ASTHO brief dives into the fact that hypertension disorders in pregnancy are the leading cause of maternal death in the U.S.; and as another hurricane approaches, ASTHO has a web page with resources.
ASTHO Brief: Utilizing Doula Care to Support Substance Use Disorder in the Postpartum Period
ASTHO Blog Article: Wisconsin at Intersection of Public Health and Youth Justice
ASTHO Brief: Addressing Hypertension in Pregnancy to Reduce Maternal Morbidity and Mortality
ASTHO Webpage: Natural Disasters
ROBERT JOHNSON:
This is the award-winning Public Health Review Morning Edition for Wednesday, August 30, 2023. I'm Robert Johnson. Now, today's news from the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials.
SOWMYA KURUGANTI:
There have been a record number of overdose-related deaths in the U.S. among pregnant and postpartum people in 2020. And we have seen this rate increasing by 46% from 2019 and 81% from 2017.
JOHNSON:
ASTHO's Sowmya Kuruganti reporting awful numbers that she says are made worse by barriers that get in the way of much-needed care.
KURUGANTI:
Pregnant and postpartum people affected by substance use disorder might experience unique barriers to receiving care. Some of these barriers might be just related to the fact that they are pregnant, and they may or may not have insurance coverage, or they might have lapses in insurance coverage that might be affecting their access to care through that pathway.
JOHNSON:
Kuruganti is the author of a new blog article about actions ASTHO members are taking to address the issues, including concerns about stigma and fear.
KURUGANTI:
These concerns can stem from laws, policies, and protocols, where providers are bound to notify Child Protective Services about substance use among pregnant individual and the pregnant person might be concerned of reports of child abuse or neglect that are related to this, which could lead to separation of the birthing parent and the newborn.
JOHNSON:
Kuruganti says the answer lies in treating all pregnant people the same.
KURUGANTI:
It's important to specifically support pregnant and postpartum individuals affected by substance use disorders, and ensure protection of both the child and the parent, and more specifically, keeping the parent-infant dyad together.
JOHNSON:
Learn how states are working to improve policies for this community by clicking the link in the show notes.
Although the number of youth arrested and incarcerated has dropped over the last decade, those who've gone through adverse childhood experiences continue to be criminalized at alarming rates. Shelby McCulley is with the Wisconsin Department of Children and Families.
SHELBY MCCULLEY:
So, as we've been moving forward with our work in the community-based youth justice system, we've really been working to identify those opportunities for prevention and diversion.
JOHNSON:
McCulley says that includes approaching the work from a public health perspective.
MCCULLEY:
A public health approach is really well-aligned with what we know about prevention and diversion in youth justice. We want to be starting with primary prevention, supporting healthy communities, supporting young people, supporting connections between young people and adults in their communities. We see work that has been done on public health approaches to violence prevention, that's really relevant here.
JOHNSON:
She adds getting to the root cause of student absences and pursuing a new approach to that problem also can be helpful.
MCCULLEY:
One area that we've spent some time on in the last few years has been looking at the issue of truancy. Young people can be brought into the justice system for truancy, but what we know is that in most cases, the justice system is actually not best-equipped to address the factors that are leading to the absenteeism in the first place.
JOHNSON:
ASTHO has a new blog article full of ideas that can help you build partnerships with the youth justice system. You can read it using the link in the show notes.
Also today, hypertension disorders in pregnancy are the leading cause of maternal death in the U.S. O'Keyla Cooper has that story.
O'KEYLA COOPER:
The U.S. faces high maternal mortality rates with hypertension disorders causing 31.6% of hospital deliveries. Social determinants, particularly stress, food access, and education, disproportionately affect Black, American Indian, Alaska Native, and rural pregnant individuals. More details can be found in the full ASTHO brief linked in the show notes.
JOHNSON:
Finally, this morning, as another hurricane bears down on Florida and surrounding states this week, we want to remind you that ASTHO has a webpage with resources that might be helpful. There's a link to the page in the show notes.
And if you have a minute, please take the time to give us a review. We'd love to know what you think.
That will do it for today's newscast. We're back tomorrow morning with more ASTHO news and information. I'm Robert Johnson. You're listening to the award-winning Public Health Review Morning Edition. Have a great day.
