Wyoming’s Maternal and Child Health Unit is seeking input from families as it sets priorities around issues like postpartum care, safe sleep for infants and youth mental health.
This comes as Wyoming is experiencing maternal health gaps including zero obstetricians or delivery facilities in some of its counties. Those gaps are prompting a growing number of women and families to travel long distances to receive maternity care or deliver babies.
The state’s health department is seeking residents to participate in focus groups and surveys now that can bring the needs of maternal and child health into focus. Those priorities will help shape a Maternal and Child Health Unit action plan for 2026-2030.
“We want our priorities in those future years to reflect the voices of our communities and families,” Feliciana Turner, Maternal Child Health Unit manager, said in a release.
Why it matters
The unit partners with communities and families on initiatives to improve health and well-being by focusing on efforts like decreasing smoking while pregnant, increasing women’s well-check visits and improving childhood physical fitness. It works closely with the state’s Maternal Mortality Review Committee and Perinatal Quality Collaborative.
The action plan will help steer the unit’s priorities through the latter half of the decade.
Awareness of Wyoming’s maternal care gaps is on the rise. Eleven of 23 counties here lack a practicing OB-GYN physician, according to the Wyoming Health Department, and three delivery facilities have closed since 2018. Wyoming has just 16 active midwives licensed under the state board of midwifery.
The 2024 State Scorecard on Women’s Health and Reproductive Care, which assesses every state’s health care system based on measures such as maternal mortality, prevention and provider access, ranked Wyoming 42nd. The state came in behind all of its neighbors.
The Joint Labor, Health and Social Services Committee is now studying the various factors contributing to the dearth of maternity care providers and ways to bolster access. A subcommittee of Gov. Mark Gordon’s Health Task Force has also been meeting on the topic for months.
Get involved
Interested residents can sign up to participate in focus groups or take a survey offered here. Focus groups will begin meeting in late August and space is limited. Survey responses will be recorded until Sept. 15. Most surveys are for parents with children under 17 years old in their household.
“We’re especially interested in hearing from parents and caregivers, women who have recently given birth, parents of children who have special health care needs and youth with parents who have agreed to their participation,” Turner said.
Several potential priorities have emerged through the initial assessment and planning stages, Turner said, including improving care for children with special health care needs, improving maternal health through postpartum visits and promoting childhood health.
This article was originally published by WyoFile and is republished here with permission. WyoFile is an independent nonprofit news organization focused on Wyoming people, places and policy.
