The Southwestern Health Region launched an online directory for pregnant and postpartum individuals that compiles resources for families, providers and community organizations. The initiative stems from an executive order signed in December 2024 directing state agencies to improve maternal health outcomes by strengthening data, expanding access to care and increasing public awareness.
The website, announced last week, offers guidance from representatives from Southwest Virginia specific for the region, including how to find an OB-GYN and how to enroll in Medicaid for pregnant people. Frequently asked questions outline different types of birthing care teams and shows where people in Southwest Virginia can access doulas and midwives. It also provides information on postpartum workplace rights and how to apply for paid family leave.
The site includes maternal mental health resources to help individuals find local care, along with support for families experiencing stillbirth or loss of a child. Additional links guide parents and families to community resources and their local health department.
Educational tools for doctors and other obstetrics providers are available as well. A section on substance use during pregnancy gives providers evidence-based guidance to support patients who may otherwise avoid prenatal care for fear of losing custody of their children.
The public is also invited to share their input. A link titled “share your thoughts” allows users to submit questions or comments directly to the state health department.
“This enhanced website, informed by mothers, doctors, doulas, midwives and others in our community and around the Commonwealth who serve pregnant women, mothers and families, provides important information about the state of maternal health in Virginia,” said Cynthia Morrow, the regional director for Southwestern Health Region, in a press release. “We hope to empower our mothers and families with resources and information to assist them with healthy birth outcomes.”
Health indicators also collected on dashboard
The website links to the state’s maternal and child health indicators dashboard, launched in April 2025 as another component of Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s executive order. The dashboard centralizes maternal health data that previously appeared only once every three years. This left lawmakers and health officials to make decisions based on outdated and incomplete information, according to the order.
Currently, the dashboard includes data through 2023. That year, several rural counties in Southwest and Southside Virginia recorded infant mortality rates far above the state average of 5.8 deaths per 1,000 live births.
In Scott County, for example, the infant mortality rate reached 17.4 per 1,000 live births. Nearly 31% of pregnant women accessed prenatal care late or not at all. About 49% of pregnant women used Medicaid as their health insurance.
Floyd County reported an infant mortality rate of about 20 per 1,000 births, even though access to prenatal care appears better than in Scott County with only 2% of women accessing prenatal care late or not at all. About 37% of women used Medicaid as their primary insurance.
The dashboard also shows that women in rural areas remain at higher risk of dying during pregnancy or childbirth. In rural Virginia, there were 26 maternal deaths and 48,642 live births, resulting in a maternal mortality rate of 53.5 per 100,000 live births in rural Virginia. Statewide, the maternal mortality rate from 2019-2023 was 34.5 maternal deaths per 100,000 live births.
State data from 2018 to 2022 shows stark racial disparities as well. Black women had 106 pregnancy-associated deaths and 62,147 live births in that period, a rate of 170.6 deaths per 100,000 live births. That contrasts with 62.3 pregnancy-associated deaths per 100,000 live births among all Virginia residents in the same span. Pregnancy-associated deaths are defined as the death of a woman within 365 days of the end of a pregnancy, regardless of the cause of death or the outcome of the pregnancy.