Maternal Morbidity and Mortality- LWV

A League of Women Voters study, with the help of the Amarillo United Way studied the problem of maternal morbidity and morbidity in Amarillo and across the state.

Poverty and lack of insurance are risk factors for diseases that put pregnant women in danger of poor health outcomes.

A report by the United Way of Amarillo and Canyon shows the poverty rate in Potter County increased to 21 percent between 2017 and 2019 and Randall County’s rate increased to 9 point 4 percent

Almost 1 in 4 Potter County residents are uninsured, a rate that is nearly a third higher than the Texas rate and more than double the national rate, while fewer that 1 in 10 Randall county residents lacks health coverage.

According to the report, Potter County ranked 202 among 254 Texas counties in terms of health factors such as income, education, and access to medical care.

Randall County ranked number nine with lower numbers indicating a more positive ranking.

Of more significant concern were findings of24 percent of randomly surveyed Amarillo residents reporting their general state of health to be fair or poor with rates of obesity, diabetes, heart disease, stroke and smoking all increasing over the past five years.

The League of Women Voters has developed plans to make more low-income and uninsured women aware of prenatal and health care resources available to them in the community thru media as well as community educational meetings.

Story by: Chuck Williams