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“Medi-Mom”: maternal mortality and extending postpartum Medicaid coverage

Pediatric Research volume 94, pages 862–865 (2023)Cite this article

The in utero environment, influenced by both the maternal biologic and social environment, contributes to newborn health.1 Negative social factors, such as a lack of prenatal health insurance, are associated with adverse birth outcomes such as preterm birth, neonatal intensive care unit admission and low birth weight.2,3,4 Infants born small-for-gestational age, for example, exhibit higher risk of Type II diabetes, coronary artery disease, renal disease and dyslipidemia into adulthood.5

In this issue, Jacquemyn et al. demonstrate the influence of maternal diabetes on cardiac function extends into early childhood.6 The investigators found echocardiographic evidence of impaired systolic dysfunction up to 2 years after birth when compared with gestational-aged matched controls.6 The results provide a clinical and functional correlate to alterations in fetal cardiomyocyte development, mitochondrial dysfunction and oxidative-stress-induced histone modification known to occur during maternal hyperglycemia.7,8 They provide further evidence prenatal conditions shape health outcomes beyond the newborn period.

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Fig. 1: Maternal mortality per 100,000 live birth among selected Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development-member nations.
Fig. 2: Percentage of uninsured women of reproductive age and low-moderate access to obstetric care by state Medicaid Expansion Status.
Fig. 3: Maternal mortality per 100,000 live births based on access to maternal/obstetric care.

Data availability

All data used in this paper is already publicly available from referenced sources.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Neonatology, Department of Pediatrics, Maria Fareri Children’s Hospital, New York Medical College, Valhalla, NY, USA

    Shetal Shah

  2. Pediatric Policy Council, McLean, VA, USA

    Shetal Shah

  3. Academic Pediatric Association, McLean, VA, USA

    Mona Patel & Jean Raphael

  4. American Pediatric Society, The Woodlands, TX, USA

    David Keller & Lisa Chamberlain

  5. Association of Medical School Pediatric Department Chairs, McLean, VA, USA

    Sherin U. Devaskar & Tina Cheng

  6. Society for Pediatric Research, McLean, VA, USA

    Joyce Javier & Lois Lee

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On behalf of the Pediatric Public Policy Council

  • Shetal Shah
  • , Mona Patel
  • , Jean Raphael
  • , David Keller
  • , Lisa Chamberlain
  • , Sherin U. Devaskar
  • , Tina Cheng
  • , Joyce Javier
  •  & Lois Lee

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Correspondence to Shetal Shah.

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Shah, S., On behalf of the Pediatric Public Policy Council. “Medi-Mom”: maternal mortality and extending postpartum Medicaid coverage. Pediatr Res 94, 862–865 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41390-023-02719-7

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