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Central Ohio forum highlights maternal-care gaps, racial disparities and growing community solutions
Summary
Local clinicians and community leaders at a Columbus Metropolitan Club forum warned that Ohio’s maternal-care gaps and racial disparities persist, urged stronger postpartum mental-health follow-up, wider use of doulas and midwifery, and pointed to community programs and policy levers such as Medicaid reimbursement to expand access.
Columbus — Local clinicians, community organizers and family members at a Columbus Metropolitan Club forum on women’s health described persistent gaps in maternal and reproductive care in Ohio and urged expanded community-based supports and policy changes to improve outcomes.
Sofia Pfiffner, president and CEO of the Columbus Metropolitan Club, opened the March forum by noting county-level shortages in obstetric care and framing the conversation around racial disparities and rising maternal risk. “13 Ohio counties lack OB providers completely,” she said, calling attention to access problems outside urban centers.
Panelists said that improving outcomes will require acknowledging a broader definition of women’s health — one that extends beyond pregnancy to include mental health, chronic disease prevention and care across the lifespan. “The second leading cause of maternal mortality is actually related to mental health issues,”…
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