Policy experts say one way to help close the racial gap in maternal health outcomes is to ensure people on Medicaid dont lose coverage two months after pregnancy.

The U.S infant mortality rate has steadily declined over the past two decades. But some states are starting to see the reverse trend with the rate of Black infant deaths far outpacing that of White infants.

Between 2018 and 2020, eight Indiana counties have seen improvements in access to maternity care: Adams, Daviess, Delaware, Fulton, Johnson, Lagrange, Miami, Vermillion and Wabash. And nine have gotten worse: Fayette, Greene, Henry, La Porte, Orange, Pulaski, Ripley, Scott and Steuben.

The latest maternal mortality report from the Indiana State Department of Health found that more women are dying during pregnancy and up to a year after delivery in Indiana.

Researchers conducting the "Ask the Women" study spoke to people in zip codes with high infant mortality rates in an effort to understand where they experienced gaps in care.

More states are taking advantage of a provision in the American Rescue Plan that enables pregnant people to keep their Medicaid coverage longer after giving birth.

The program is open to anyone in the state and covers all types and brands of birth control.

Typically an ambulance arrives to find a person in mid-crisis and requiring immediate care. But a new approach called community paramedicine aims to prevent emergencies in the first place.

The executive order tells state agencies they must provide pregnant workers with temporary accommodations like longer break times, the ability to sit or stand for comfort, and a private space for expressing breast milk.

Medicaid coverage for Hoosier women during their pregnancy typically lasts until 60 days after they give birth, but that was extended through the most recent federal COVID-19 relief package.