Indiana Lawmakers to release recommendations to lower infant, maternal mortality rates

INDIANAPOLIS — An interim public health committee will release recommendations in mid-October that the Indiana General Assembly should consider to improve healthcare outcomes for Hoosier moms and their babies, including ways to improve access to post-partum checkups and mental health screenings.

According to the CDC, most infant/maternal deaths are preventable, and more than 40% of women miss their postpartum check-up.

“What does having transportation partners look like? I think that could be of tremendous value here in Indiana,” said State Sen. La Keisha Jackson (D-Indianapolis). “The State of Indiana, we have some of the highest [numbers of] women on Medicaid here…some women are going back to work, we’ve heard, as early as 10 days.”

The state, which historically has some of the highest infant and maternal mortality rates in the country, saw its lowest number of infant deaths in history last year, according to the Indiana Department of Health. However, this comes months after state lawmakers cut historic public health funding—funding State Sen. Jackson said had a tremendous effect on mortality rates trending downward.

“I’m hopeful that this committee can make an argument strong case to reinstitute that funding,” said State Sen. Jackson.

That funding, distributed through a program called Health First Indiana, gave counties a combined $225 million to address their own, unique public health concerns over the last biennium. But in this budget cycle, counties will only receive a combined $80 million.

“We need to keep in mind the fiscal situation that we’re in right now,” said State Sen. Ed Charbonneau (R-Valparaiso), the chair of the committee.

“All of the local health departments across the State of Indiana have faced a cut within their budgets,” said Shelby Jackson, a Vigo County Health Department public health educator.

According to Jackson, a continuation of consistent funding is needed to reduce maternal and infant mortality rates long-term.

“It’s a significant challenge to effectively move the needle to a healthier infant and maternal population within one year of implementation for our local health department,” said Jackson.

Gov. Mike Braun has previously said he would consider pushing for Health First Indiana funding to return to previous levels.

“We may be pouring more resources into it if we can get a good ROI on doing it,” said Gov. Braun said during an event in April of this year.

The interim public health committee is expected to release its final recommendations on Oct. 15.