![Mom sitting on floor holding baby with a frown, paper bills floating around blue background](https://www.michiganmedicine.org/sites/default/files/styles/card/public/blog/Worried-Mother-Baby-Bills-Blue.jpg?h=bfaa3d24&itok=s_kxto7U)
Health Lab
Study shows that in the US, the cost of health care is unaffordable for 60% of pregnant and postpartum women, including among privately insured women who report prohibitive out-of-pocket costs.
![morbidity postpartum ethnic racial disparity](https://www.michiganmedicine.org/sites/default/files/styles/card/public/blog/morbidity-postpartum-ethnic-racial-disparity.jpg?h=2d703ee9&itok=yQE2_yed)
Health Lab
Study suggests racial and ethnic disparities in severe maternal morbidity rates up to a year after delivery, higher risk for those with anxiety and depression.
![Pregnant woman holding her stomach looking down, surrounded by blue spirals](https://www.michiganmedicine.org/sites/default/files/styles/card/public/blog/Pregnant-Woman-Blue-Spirals-Worried.jpg?h=bfaa3d24&itok=YujP8i_g)
Health Lab
Study sheds light on relationship between perinatal mood and anxiety disorders and first time cesarian delivery among pregnant women.
![Dr. Lori Isom looking into a microscope](https://www.michiganmedicine.org/sites/default/files/styles/card/public/2023-01/Crumb_Amber_MichiganAnswers_UMH%203200x1800.jpg?h=b443c3c5&itok=lE6Z15si)
Michigan Answers
After being diagnosed with Antiphospholipid Syndrome, Amber was determined to fight many challenges and become a mother.
![Childbirth cost csection baby rising](https://www.michiganmedicine.org/sites/default/files/styles/card/public/blog/childbirth_cost_csection_baby_rising.jpg?h=bfaa3d24&itok=HzVeAu9j)
Health Lab
Out-of-pocket spending for maternal and newborn hospitalizations among privately insured families can exceed $10,000 if babies require neonatal intensive care.
![](https://www.michiganmedicine.org/sites/default/files/styles/card/public/oembed_thumbnails/ohLUFhW0SMc2Oj7dLVh8gnvbjUbo_IYCnhnQ2loZ1bI.jpg?h=144d094f&itok=WfH7vogO)
Health Lab
Young patient’s reaction to commercial featuring gold medalist and double amputee Jessica Long goes viral, leads to Zoom introduction.
![stethoscope drawing in blue ink on lined paper with yellow badge in bottom corner in blue font saying lab note](https://www.michiganmedicine.org/sites/default/files/styles/card/public/blog/Lab_notes_general_doctor_badge_yellow_0.jpg?h=bfaa3d24&itok=GR1BZpbT)
Health Lab
For low-income pregnant patients, health insurance disruptions may make it less likely that they receive recommended prenatal and postpartum care.
![parents holding baby in hospital wheelchair](https://www.michiganmedicine.org/sites/default/files/styles/card/public/blog/Parents_Holding_Baby_Hospital_Wheelchair_0.jpg?h=bfaa3d24&itok=LiaG0IgG)
Health Lab
A patient with advanced heart failure gives birth to a healthy baby thanks to Michigan Medicine’s Cardio-Obstetrics Program.
![child in moms arms with yellow shirt on](https://www.michiganmedicine.org/sites/default/files/styles/card/public/blog/child_in_moms_arms_with_a_yellow_shirt_on.jpg?h=bfaa3d24&itok=0M_LhSU1)
Health Lab
Care team uses innovative intravascular balloon to slow down blood flow during baby’s delivery to prevent potentially fatal blood loss due to placenta accreta.
![Woman hands opening birth control pills](https://www.michiganmedicine.org/sites/default/files/styles/card/public/blog/Woman_hands_opening_birth_control_pills.jpg?h=bfaa3d24&itok=UX4Ijg7F)
Health Lab
Affordable Care Act’s elimination of out-of-pocket costs for contraception was associated with fewer births, especially among low income families.
![black background baby in red placenta with red spot at top signaling something is wrong](https://www.michiganmedicine.org/sites/default/files/styles/card/public/blog/Placenta_promblems_baby_in_womb.jpg?h=bfaa3d24&itok=DF2610xs)
Health Lab
Problems with her placenta inspired physician Courtney Townsel to specialize in helping others understand the high risk pregnancy conditions that impact this vital organ.
![mom and children on front porch playing](https://www.michiganmedicine.org/sites/default/files/styles/card/public/blog/mom_and_children_on_front_porch_playing.jpg?h=bfaa3d24&itok=kb7PLYaI)
Health Lab
Morgan Evans thought she’d have to choose between her unborn baby and treating her aggressive tongue cancer. Her team at Michigan Medicine thought otherwise.
![Pregnant women in hospital gown in a hospital room](https://www.michiganmedicine.org/sites/default/files/styles/card/public/blog/pregnant_women_in_hospital_gown.jpg?h=bfaa3d24&itok=9LgMjl_b)
Health Lab
In states with expanded Medicaid eligibility, pregnant people were more likely to have continuous health care insurance around the time of pregnancy.
![](https://www.michiganmedicine.org/sites/default/files/styles/card/public/oembed_thumbnails/rAR38Eu80HJOfOpjYUKxQwBiTC3VOIa-i1op58Us3Lg.jpg?h=144d094f&itok=0rNgTH69)
Health Lab
Conjoined twins attached at the chest and abdomen recently underwent successful separation surgery at Michigan Medicine C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital.
![newborn triplets dressed in firefighter outfits](https://www.michiganmedicine.org/sites/default/files/styles/card/public/blog/triplets_on_red_blanket.jpg?h=bfaa3d24&itok=amywUe08)
Health Lab
And then there were five: Firefighter husband and wife duo and a Brighton-area couple celebrate their first Father’s Days with triplets during COVID-19.