Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Having A Baby? Alaska Charges The Most, Alabama The Least
Axios: Here Are The States Where It's Costliest To Give Birth
Having a baby isn't cheap anywhere, but there are some states in the U.S. where it's far pricier to give birth than others, according to data provided first to Axios from FAIR Health. FAIR Health's new Cost of Giving Birth Tracker — which uses data from more than 41 billion private healthcare claim records — offers a glimpse at how much variability there is in the cost of one of the most common health care services. (Reed, 6/13)
The New York Times: What Is Eclampsia? What To Know About The Rare Pregnancy Complication
On Tuesday, an autopsy report shared with The New York Times showed that the Olympic sprinter Tori Bowie, who was found dead in May, was eight months pregnant and in labor at the time of her death. She was 32 years old. The report identified complications of childbirth as the cause of death, listing eclampsia and respiratory distress as possible factors. “Eclampsia occurs in somewhere between one to 10 in 10,000 pregnancies,” said Dr. Joanne Stone, the head of the department of obstetrics, gynecology and reproductive science at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. Research has suggested that rates of hypertensive disorders of pregnancy — including pre-eclampsia, eclampsia and gestational hypertension — have been on the rise, and increased during the Covid-19 pandemic. (Gupta, 6/13)
The Atlantic: CMV Is A Pregnancy Risk That Doctors Won't Mention
The nonexhaustive list of things women are told to avoid while pregnant includes cat litter, alfalfa sprouts, deli meat, runny egg yolks, pet hamsters, sushi, herbal teas, gardening, brie cheeses, aspirin, meat with even a hint of pink, hot tubs. The chance that any of these will harm the baby is small, but why risk it? Yet few doctors in the U.S. tell pregnant women about the risk of catching a ubiquitous virus called cytomegalovirus, or CMV. The name might be obscure, but CMV is the leading infectious cause of birth defects in America—far ahead of toxoplasmosis from cat litter or microbes from hamsters. (Zhang, 6/13)
In other news about abortion —
The 19th: The Next Red State Abortion Fight Is Unfolding In Ohio
A coalition of doctors and abortion rights advocates wants to make Ohio the first Republican-controlled state to vote to enshrine abortion rights in its constitution — but they must first defeat Republicans’ efforts to thwart the measure. (Panetta, 6/13)
World Health Organization: New Clinical Handbook Launched To Support Quality Abortion Care
The World Health Organization (WHO) today released a new handbook for health workers to help them deliver quality abortion services for women and girls. The publication provides detailed clinical advice to support implementation of WHO’s consolidated guidance on abortion care, published in 2022. Clinical services relating to abortion include not only the procedure itself, but also the provision of information and counselling, pain management and post-abortion care, including contraception. In line with WHO’s updated recommendations, the Clinical practice handbook for quality abortion care additionally provides expanded guidance on how health workers can support self-management approaches, and telemedicine, where this is available. (6/12)
