January 5, 2011
Five Dead Babies: A Lesson in Nebraska Politics
When the Nebraska lawmakers voted to end Medicaid prenatal care for approximately 1500 women their unborn babies paid the ultimate price. Any labor room hospitalist who is responsible for the care of unassigned pregnant women will tell you that it is far easier to take care of pregnant women who have had prenatal care than it is to take care of women who haven’t. The recent vigil of the Equality Nebraska Coalition in front of their State Capitol to honor 5 dead babies whose death can be related to the lack of access to prenatal care speaks volumes.
On or about February of 2010, Nebraska expectant mothers received a “Dear John” letter from Nebraska’s Health and Human Services stating that their pregnancies were no longer covered under Medicaid. It appeared that the rationale for making such a drastic decision involved a resistance of state politicians to pay for medical services of “illegal immigrants.” However, when one reads the comments on a popular website called the Baby Center.com, the pregnant women who were affected were U.S. citizens who were college students, wives of husbands who had lost their medical insurance and unemployed women. Eventually all the women were able to receive government sponsored healthcare coverage but the panic preceding their reinstatement was palpable.
Emotions about “illegal” immigration are passionate and there are insightful opinions on both sides of the fence. However unborn babies are not political hostages. Unless you’ve done an emergency C. Section because of a footling breech, a placenta abruption, or on a woman on the verge of having a stroke, one does not have a clue as to the deleterious effects of withholding or denying prenatal care for pregnant women. Having a baby is not a benign act. Skilled prenatal care saves lives. As an obstetrician, I am saddened by the death of these five babies. As a citizen of the United States, I am very much ashamed. First, do no harm, Nebraska lawmakers. First, do no harm.
Lisa Plymate said,
January 5, 2011 at 9:04 pm
Excellent post! All across the country, state governments are making cuts in basic services like prenatal care. Washington state’s governor has had to put our entire “Basic Health” program, which provides reasonably priced insurance for low-income workers, on the chopping block because of our budgetary shortfall. In November’s elections here, all initiatives to the people that cut taxes or made it almost impossible to raise taxes passed. These are the consequences. Real people. Really hurt. Somehow we have to get this idea across: Bare-bones, or beyond bare-bones government means social services for our neediest are gone. The state governments’ primary functions are education and health care, then transportation and the rest. We have no more ‘fat’ to trim.
We must recognize that we should work together as a community, that that is what ‘society’ is about. Cutting prenatal care for poor women affects those lives to come. Our infant mortality rate was already an appallingly low 29th among industrialized countries. Where will it be when Nebraska law plays out?
drlindagalloway said,
January 6, 2011 at 12:16 pm
Thanks so much for your comments, Dr. Plymate. I use your title because I want my readers to know that as physicians, we feel the pain of our patients. We must continue to beat the drum until America finally wakes up. There is no “trickle down” effect of the wealthy towards the poor. Our future generations hang in the balance. Who speaks for the unborn? WE DO.