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Nurture New Jersey released a plan in January that calls for reducing maternal mortality by 50% in five years and eliminating racial disparities in outcomes. Murphy’s administration, with assistance from lawmakers, took multiple steps in recent years to expand access to family planning services, prenatal care and birthing options. State officials have also moved to enhance training for providers and make it easier to access maternal health data.
Maternal health advocates bolstered by Black and brown female legislators who have shared their own, often difficult birth stories have continued to stress the importance of postpartum care, something they said is missing for roughly 40% of the new moms in this country. More than half the maternal fatalities nationwide occur after the mother gives birth, according to state Sen. Teresa Ruiz (D-Essex), a main sponsor, and two-thirds of these deaths can be prevented.
Colorado was in poor shape to handle 2020’s confluence of crises. This year’s heightened mental health needs have run headlong into a complex, ever-shifting constellation of decades-old challenges: the state’s higher-than-average prevalence of high-risk mental health conditions; a backlog of demand caused by a thicket of red tape among state agencies and private insurers; a behavioral health workforce shortage compounded by low rates of psychiatrists and psychologists who accept public or private insurance;
cultural stigma; and slow public and political recognition that mental health is as important as physical health.
For communities of color that have a history of trauma and lack of access to health care, the need has been especially acute.
Photo courtesy Marc Piscotty
Betty Torres, 38, of Denver, walks at Garfield Lake Park in Denver one afternoon. Torres was diagnosed and hospitalized with COVID-19 back in March and has mostly recovered, but lost her grandfather to the virus and had it work its way through her entire family. Torres was scared to leave the house for a while after struggling to overcome COVID for fear of being exposed again.
By Tina Griego
Colorado News Collaborative
On Denver’s west side, an elderly man had been managing his solitude just fine until the pandemic hit, taking with it what social life he had and leaving in its place a loneliness he had not felt for years.
Colorado’s Shadow Epidemic: Heightened Anxiety, Depression Are Testing Families, Communities and Colorado’s Already-frayed Safety Nets
Colorado’s Shadow Epidemic: Heightened Anxiety, Depression Are Testing Families, Communities and Colorado’s Already-frayed Safety Nets
Comments Off on Colorado’s Shadow Epidemic: Heightened Anxiety, Depression Are Testing Families, Communities and Colorado’s Already-frayed Safety Nets Whatever you’re going through, crisis counselors and professionally trained peer specialists are available to help. Call the Colorado Crisis Service hotline at 1-844-493-TALK(8255). There is no wrong reason to reach out.
By Tina Griego and Susan Greene
Colorado News Collaborative
On Edge
On Denver’s west side, an elderly man had been managing his solitude just fine until the pandemic hit, taking with it what social life he had and leaving in its place a loneliness he had not felt for years. Not far from his house,