The Tennessee Department of Health has received a $5 million federal grant to fund community and clinical programs, which will help more people in the state have healthy, successful pregnancies.
Between 2017 and 2020, the state said pregnancy-related problems took the lives of 113 Tennesseans, and nine in 10 of the causes of death are preventable.
Dr. Tobi Adeyeye Amosun, assistant commissioner of family health and wellness for the Tennessee Department of Health, said the grant will fund initiatives for the next five years to help improve maternal health, pregnancy and birth.
"To continue to expand membership in our Maternal Health Task Force, to help us create that strategic plan, improving our data collection and analysis; creating materials to educate families," Amosun outlined. "We're going to be using people who have lived experience to create some of those materials about the early warning signs of pregnancy emergencies."
The department will also collaborate with local community agencies on projects to address maternal health needs in the state. Tennessee is ranked 41st among states for maternal mortality by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The most recent findings in the Tennessee Maternal Mortality report show major health disparities for people of color who are pregnant.
Amosun acknowledged the findings are disappointing, and improving them will be a renewed focus.
"The level of disparities across the state is really quite striking in the geographic sense, and also between certain demographics," Amosun pointed out. "For example, Black women are three times more likely to die in Tennessee, in that perinatal period, compared to everybody else."
She added the report also shows substance use disorders and mental health are contributing factors to some pregnancy-related deaths in Tennessee.