UWPRC Affiliate and Assistant Professor of Social Work, Dr. Tova Walsh, recently authored an article with NBC News. Dr. Walsh discusses the importance of postpartum follow-up care and the need to expand rather than constrict access. She shares her own experience giving birth during COVID-19 as well as experiences from other new moms that she has interviewed. 
As a researcher who studies the transition to parenthood, I’ve always wished that mothers in the U.S. could have the same access to greater support and follow-up care that women routinely receive in other high-income countries. Instead, with the onset of the pandemic, access to even a single postpartum visit was reduced, and pre-existing disparities in postpartum care along racial/ethnic, geographic and income lines were exacerbated. Endemic racism, provider shortages in rural areas and lack of insurance are just a few of the factors that contribute to lower access to care that the pandemic has magnified.
Read the full piece here.