Skip to main content
Subscribe
  • Sign Up Free
  • Login
  • Subscribe
  • News
    • Current News
    • Providers
    • Insurance
    • Government
    • Finance
    • Technology
    • Safety & Quality
    • Digital Health
    • Transformation
    • ESG
    • People
    • Regional News
    • Digital Edition (Web Version)
    • Patients
    • Operations
    • Care Delivery
    • Payment
    • Midwest
    • Northeast
    • South
    • West
  • Opinion
    • Bold Moves
    • Breaking Bias
    • Commentaries
    • Letters
    • Vital Signs Blog
    • From the Editor
  • Events & Awards
    • Awards
    • Conferences
    • Galas
    • Virtual Briefings
    • Webinars
    • Nominate/Eligibility
    • 100 Most Influential People
    • 50 Most Influential Clinical Executives
    • Best Places to Work in Healthcare
    • Excellence in Governance
    • Health Care Hall of Fame
    • Healthcare Marketing Impact Awards
    • Top 25 Emerging Leaders
    • Top Innovators
    • Diversity in Healthcare
      • - Luminaries
      • - Top 25 Diversity Leaders
      • - Leaders to Watch
    • Women in Healthcare
      • - Luminaries
      • - Top 25 Women Leaders
      • - Women to Watch
    • Digital Health Transformation Summit
    • ESG: The Implementation Imperative Summit
    • Leadership Symposium
    • Social Determinants of Health Symposium
    • Women Leaders in Healthcare Conference
    • Best Places to Work Awards Gala
    • Health Care Hall of Fame Gala
    • Top 25 Diversity Leaders Gala
    • Top 25 Women Leaders Gala
    • - Hospital of the Future
    • - Value Based Care
    • - Hospital at Home
    • - Workplace of the Future
    • - Digital Health
    • - Future of Staffing
    • - Hospital of the Future (Fall)
  • Multimedia
    • Podcast - Beyond the Byline
    • Sponsored Podcast - Healthcare Insider
    • Video Series - The Check Up
    • Sponsored Video Series - One on One
  • Data Center
    • Data Center Home
    • Hospital Financials
    • Staffing & Compensation
    • Quality & Safety
    • Mergers & Acquisitions
    • Data Archive
    • Resource Guide: By the Numbers
    • Surveys
    • Data Points
  • Newsletters
  • MORE+
    • Contact Us
    • Advertise
    • Media Kit
    • Jobs
    • People on the Move
    • Reprints & Licensing
MENU
Breadcrumb
  1. Home
  2. Opinion
July 14, 2018 01:00 AM

Editorial: Caring about children's health after they're born

Merrill Goozner
  • Tweet
  • Share
  • Share
  • Email
  • More
    Reprints Print

    Merrill Goozner

    President Donald Trump wants abortion to dominate the confirmation battle over Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh. What better way to divide Americans while distracting people from this country's anti-children policies?

    Full disclosure. I'm pro-choice. I am dismayed by the prospect that Kavanaugh's appointment could eventually lead to overturning Roe v. Wade despite stare decisis on a woman's right to privacy.

    But I am also a realist. This isn't 1973. Should the high court overturn Roe, close to two dozen states would quickly pass laws outlawing or further restricting abortion.

    Only women in anti-abortion states unwilling or unable to travel would suffer immediate harm. Some legislatures may even outlaw the use of telemedicine and mail-order pharmacy for some forms of birth control and pregnancy termination. But such measures will not deter women with unwanted pregnancies who can afford to travel to states where abortion will remain legal.

    So, as we hunker down for months of culture wars over the abortion issue, here's a question worth pondering: Wouldn't it be nice if the governing party in Washington cared as much about the well-being of children and their mothers during and after birth as they do about fetuses?

    The news on that score is beyond depressing. The Trump administration recently extended its anti-science, pro-corporate attitudes into long-settled realms with a surreptitious campaign to scuttle a World Health Organization resolution supporting breast feeding.

    News reports suggest Abbott Laboratories and Nestle, the world's leading makers of infant formula, played no role in the effort. No wonder. There's more than a half-century of well-documented science backing the health benefits of mother's milk, especially in developing countries where diarrheal and infectious diseases are major baby killers.

    
If this administration wants to address an issue that actually worries infant formula makers, they should investigate why the U.S. birth rate fell last year to an all-time low of 1.7 children per woman. That's well below the replacement rate of 2.1 children, thus making the long-term finances of the nation's retirement programs dependent on, ahem, immigrants.

    There's no mystery behind why it has fallen so low. The U.S. has the least child-friendly policies in the developed world.

    It is the only advanced industrial country that doesn't require paid maternity leave. Companies do not voluntarily make up the slack. Only 6% of U.S. corporations offer time off with pay to a new parent.

    Workplace day care is just as scarce, even though it more than pays for itself in terms of retention and recruitment. Only 17 of the Fortune 100 companies offer that service. It's even rarer at smaller businesses.

    Millennials just starting families are hard-pressed to pay for day care on their own. The average day-care cost per child is now $1,000 a month. That's hard to come up with when you're still paying off your student loans, which have skyrocketed for the younger generation.

    The U.S. also lags far behind other industrialized countries in early childhood education. We're in the bottom third in rankings by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development in preschool participation for 4-year-olds, according to an analysis by the Center for American Progress.

    The lack of government support harms poor children the most. Over 10 million kids age 5 and under are on Medicaid. Yet less than a million are enrolled in Head Start. Though the program got a much-needed boost from Congress in this year's budget (Trump had asked for less), it enrolled 50,000 fewer kids last year than it did in 2011.

    The healthcare system isn't doing mothers any favors, either. The overmedicalization of childbirth has lifted the U.S. C-section rate above 30%, where it's been for years despite guidelines encouraging vaginal births. Unnecessary C-sections lead to longer hospital stays, increased maternal mortality and more complications in future deliveries.

    No doubt many senators will parse Judge Kavanaugh's carefully crafted evasions on abortion before casting their votes. Sadly, what's happening to the kids will go unremarked.

    Letter
    to the
    Editor

    Send us a letter

    Have an opinion about this story? Click here to submit a Letter to the Editor, and we may publish it in print.

    Recommended for You
    27256428336_89d106069f_b 790px_i_i_i.jpg
    Compromise may mean continued reprieve for 'Obamacare' preventive care mandates
    artificial intelligence - AI
    A.I. a top issue at this weekend's AMA policy meeting
    Most Popular
    1
    More healthcare organizations at risk of credit default, Moody's says
    2
    Centene fills out senior executive team with new president, COO
    3
    SCAN, CareOregon plan to merge into the HealthRight Group
    4
    Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan unveils big push that lets physicians take on risk, reap rewards
    5
    Bright Health weighs reverse stock split as delisting looms
    Sponsored Content
    Get Newsletters

    Sign up for enewsletters and alerts to receive breaking news and in-depth coverage of healthcare events and trends, as they happen, right to your inbox.

    Subscribe Today
    MH Magazine Cover

    MH magazine offers content that sheds light on healthcare leaders’ complex choices and touch points—from strategy, governance, leadership development and finance to operations, clinical care, and marketing.

    Subscribe
    Connect with Us
    • LinkedIn
    • Twitter
    • Facebook
    • RSS

    Our Mission

    Modern Healthcare empowers industry leaders to succeed by providing unbiased reporting of the news, insights, analysis and data.

    Contact Us

    (877) 812-1581

    Email us

     

    Resources
    • Contact Us
    • Advertise with Us
    • Ad Choices Ad Choices
    • Sitemap
    Editorial Dept
    • Submission Guidelines
    • Code of Ethics
    • Awards
    • About Us
    Legal
    • Terms and Conditions
    • Privacy Policy
    • Privacy Request
    Modern Healthcare
    Copyright © 1996-2023. Crain Communications, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
    • News
      • Current News
      • Providers
      • Insurance
      • Government
      • Finance
      • Technology
      • Safety & Quality
      • Digital Health
      • Transformation
        • Patients
        • Operations
        • Care Delivery
        • Payment
      • ESG
      • People
      • Regional News
        • Midwest
        • Northeast
        • South
        • West
      • Digital Edition (Web Version)
    • Opinion
      • Bold Moves
      • Breaking Bias
      • Commentaries
      • Letters
      • Vital Signs Blog
      • From the Editor
    • Events & Awards
      • Awards
        • Nominate/Eligibility
        • 100 Most Influential People
        • 50 Most Influential Clinical Executives
        • Best Places to Work in Healthcare
        • Excellence in Governance
        • Health Care Hall of Fame
        • Healthcare Marketing Impact Awards
        • Top 25 Emerging Leaders
        • Top Innovators
        • Diversity in Healthcare
          • - Luminaries
          • - Top 25 Diversity Leaders
          • - Leaders to Watch
        • Women in Healthcare
          • - Luminaries
          • - Top 25 Women Leaders
          • - Women to Watch
      • Conferences
        • Digital Health Transformation Summit
        • ESG: The Implementation Imperative Summit
        • Leadership Symposium
        • Social Determinants of Health Symposium
        • Women Leaders in Healthcare Conference
      • Galas
        • Best Places to Work Awards Gala
        • Health Care Hall of Fame Gala
        • Top 25 Diversity Leaders Gala
        • Top 25 Women Leaders Gala
      • Virtual Briefings
        • - Hospital of the Future
        • - Value Based Care
        • - Hospital at Home
        • - Workplace of the Future
        • - Digital Health
        • - Future of Staffing
        • - Hospital of the Future (Fall)
      • Webinars
    • Multimedia
      • Podcast - Beyond the Byline
      • Sponsored Podcast - Healthcare Insider
      • Video Series - The Check Up
      • Sponsored Video Series - One on One
    • Data Center
      • Data Center Home
      • Hospital Financials
      • Staffing & Compensation
      • Quality & Safety
      • Mergers & Acquisitions
      • Data Archive
      • Resource Guide: By the Numbers
      • Surveys
      • Data Points
    • Newsletters
    • MORE+
      • Contact Us
      • Advertise
      • Media Kit
      • Jobs
      • People on the Move
      • Reprints & Licensing