EXCLUSIVE: Bill looks to expand care for pregnant veterans
AUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) - Help could be on the way for female veterans in the two-state, specifically new moms or moms-to-be.
A new bill that would expand their care is working its way through the United States Senate, and it has the of both Republicans and Democrats.
Georgia Senator Jon Ossoff is one of the co-sponsors, and he sat down with News 12 via Zoom for an exclusive interview.
According to the Veterans istration, women make up the fastest-growing group in the veteran population.
Right now, there are more than 2 million female veterans in the United States. Around 93,000 are in Georgia, and more than 45,000 live in South Carolina.
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They’ve served our country, and now Senator Ossoff says, it’s time our female service and veterans get the services they need.
“I think you can tell a lot about a society by whether it cares for and provides all the necessary service and for pregnant women,” said Senator Ossoff.
Last month, he ed forces with a Republican senator from Nebraska to introduce the Moms Who Serve Act, pushing the Department of Defense to create a pilot program to help care for military moms before, during and after pregnancy.
Now, he’s co-sponsoring the DOULA for VA Act — or Delivering Optimally Urgent Labor Access for Veterans Affairs Act — specifically for our female vets.
Research shows our pregnant veterans need extra help.
A report from the National Library of Medicine found when veterans of Operations Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom become pregnant, they were twice as likely to be diagnosed with depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), bipolar disorder or schizophrenia than those who were not pregnant.
“There’s reason to be alarmed that both female service who are pregnant and delivering, and veterans who are pregnant are not getting the quality of care that they need,” said Senator Ossoff.
That’s why, he says, this bill has a “whole health” approach, making sure there’s a focus on moms’ mental health.
In addition to visits with a qualified OB, the patient would also receive up to 10 sessions of care from a doula, scheduled at various times throughout the pregnancy, where the “doula is working as an advocate for the veteran alongside their medical team.”
“While we work to make sure that pregnant veterans and delivering veterans have access to the very best obstetric physicians, we also want to make sure that between visits to their OB, there is a qualified professional who understands the physical and mental dimensions of pregnancy and childbirth — who can advise and that pregnant veteran through the very challenging, difficult and complex process of pregnancy and childbirth,” said Senator Ossoff.
According to the bill, the goal is to improve “maternal, mental health, and infant care outcomes.”
Senator Ossoff has had an expert to lean on – at home.
He’s married to an OBGYN.
When asked if his wife had any input on this bill or if he looked to her for guidance, he said the following: “My wife’s daily commitment — and she’s at the hospital right now, helping ensure that Georgia mothers deliver their babies safely — and her daily commitment and her daily experience, which she relays to me of the challenges that Georgia moms face, has inspired me to make maternal health care one of my highest priorities while in the Senate.”
Senator Ossoff tells News 12 that even with Washington as divided as it is now, he believes this bill has a better shot at ing because Democrats and Republicans are working together on it.
We’ll be following this for you and will let you know what happens.
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