Mothers

A disruption to in vitro fertilization in Alabama has some Kansans worried their rights could be under threat, as experts raise questions about "fetal personhood" in state law. Plus: Midwife Clarisa Evans started her Kansas City practice to empower all members of an expecting family from pregnancy through postpartum.

Midwife Clarisa Evans started her practice to empower all members of an expecting family from pregnancy through postpartum. While carrying on the legacy of her great grandmother, Evans has become part of a community that reimagines pregnancy and birth outside of hospitals and inside homes.

Missouri was one of only four states, along with Georgia, Iowa and Texas, that saw an increase in infant mortality between 2021 and 2022, according to federal data. And Black women are dying at much higher rates than their white counterparts.

Jamaa Birth Village plans to open satellite midwifery birthing locations across Missouri next year. Patients can receive midwifery and doula care and social support services in areas with few options for maternity care.

Installed at Mehlville Fire Protection District Station 2 in south St. Louis County, the box is a secured incubator that new mothers in crisis can leave their newborns in if they are not able to care for the child.

Current Missouri law limits Medicaid postpartum care to 60 days. Under the new legislation, that coverage now lasts for a full year — giving mothers more opportunity to treat health conditions and mental health issues.

In Missouri, maternal mental health conditions are the No. 1 cause of pregnancy-related deaths. According to a state-commissioned review, all mental health-related maternal deaths were deemed preventable. But Missouri's government has largely failed to respond to the crisis.

KC Mothers In Charge is a coalition of mothers whose children have died by homicide that works to reduce violent crime. The tight-knit group understands what each other is going through — and help each other celebrate despite tragic loss.

Mortality rates for Kansas City mothers and infants, especially in Black and brown communities, are well above the national average. So local groups are stepping outside the traditional health care system to bridge the gap. Plus: The leaders of a small southeast Kansas hospital say the only way to keep it from closing is to cut back on services.

Between 2012 and 2016, 662 babies in the Kansas City metro area died — about 11 every month. Maternal mortality rates are also higher than the national average, but some Kansas City groups are trying to improve both.

Missouri has a maternal mortality rate of 25.2 deaths per 100,000 live births, higher than the national average. Health professionals worry that the state’s near-total abortion ban will make pregnancy, childbirth and the postpartum period even more dangerous.

Under the legislation, those who receive benefits from Medicaid during pregnancy would be able to keep them for one full-year post birth. But the program can only begin after nearly 5,000 other people are kicked off Medicaid.