Des Moines Register
Beverly Kittoe was working in her hair salon Wednesday when she received an unexpected call from Washington, D.C. She didn t recognize the number, but decided to answer.
The caller was a White House staffer. The staffer asked if Kittoe could spare a few minutes to speak to President Joe Biden about her son, Iowa National Guard veteran Brandon Ketchum.
Yes, Kittoe replied. Of course she could.
The president had just signed a bill named for Ketchum, who died by suicide in 2016. The bill, co-sponsored by all four Iowa members of the U.S. House of Representatives, aims to improve access to VA mental health services for rural veterans.
One study from the University of Minnesota Rural Health Research Center found that almost 1 of every 10 rural counties nationwide lost obstetric services from 2004 to 2014.
For pregnant women in rural America, that means long hours in the car driving an hour or more from their homes for an ultrasound or even a regular check-up.
The lack of access to prenatal, labor and delivery, and postnatal services doesn’t just hurt pregnant women and new mothers. It also hurts our families, our communities, and our future success. And in the 21st century, it can and must be fixed.
America has some of the highest maternal mortality rates in the developed world, and rural women bear an outsized risk of pregnancy-related complications or deaths. According to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), rural women are over one-and-a-half times more likely to die in childbirth than their urban counterparts.
Biden calls Iowa mom after signing VA mental health law named for son desmoinesregister.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from desmoinesregister.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
While speaking to the press after a town hall meeting on Tuesday, Rep. Cindy Axne, D-Iowa, was asked what she would say to the critics of H.R. 1, the sweeping election overhaul bill that is the top legislative issue for the Democrats.
Democratic field forming in Iowa s U S Senate race thegazette.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from thegazette.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.