Shia Overby works full-time as a community-based social worker and part-time as certified doula. Her work is inspired by her three children, including 4-month-old Zavier.
For her first two pregnancies, Overby’s insurance for postpartum care stopped after two months. But this time around, her coverage will continue until Zavier’s first birthday.
New York lawmakers extended Medicaid coverage for new mothers from 60 days to a year.
“Postpartum is forever,” Overby said. “Once you’ve carried a baby in your body and then welcomed it into the world, your world just changes completely, so I don’t think it can be summed up to a year, but three months is not enough.”
Post-pregnancy, Overby was diagnosed with pelvic floor dysfunction and diastasis recti, a common condition where abdominal muscles stretch during birth.
“Those first couple of weeks when you’re home, you’re not focused on anything besides this person you created,” Overby said. “So once you get your bearings and go to your appointments, you notice this is hurting or this hasn’t healed correctly.”
What You Need To Know
- The American Rescue Plan Act allows states to extend Medicaid coverage for pregnant women from 60 days to one year postpartum
- The American Heart Association hopes the extension will provide better counseling and screening to lower risks new moms face after birth, including heart disease, hypertension, diabetes, postpartum depression and substance use
- New York currently ranks 23rd in the nation for rate of maternal mortality, with Black women more than three times more likely to die of pregnancy-related death than white women
Health experts hope the extended coverage will address the nation’s maternal mortality crisis. Most pregnancy-related deaths occur among populations covered by Medicaid up to a year after delivery.
“Medical problems that were previously undiagnosed often get picked up during pregnancy because it's the only time they got care. They qualified because they were pregnant, so to have that access ripped out from under them puts them back to where they were, with untreated issues,” said Dr. Katherine Cartwright, a physician at Albany Obstetrics and Gynecology.
New York ranks 23rd in the nation for its rate of maternal deaths, and the risks are even more prevalent among communities of color.
Cartwright said health concerns like diabetes are often left untreated.
“Nearly all deaths that happen after that 6-to-12-week mark after pregnancy are from cardiovascular disease, so patients who are lost to follow-up because they lose access to care end up with worse outcomes when it comes to heart health,” said Cartwright.
The change will not only support new mothers physically, but will also address mental health concerns as well. One in seven women experience postpartum depression in the first year after giving birth.
Overby finds comfort knowing she can spend less time worrying about how her appointments are being paid for and more time focusing on herself and her baby boy.
“A lot of times, the focus is on the adorable little baby, and they are so cute, but also, you just did a really hard thing and you're expected to get back up and go to work and life is back to normal, and it's not,” she said.