Researchers at Avera are working to understand all factors underlying maternal health care for Native Americans in western South Dakota.
Most counties west of the Missouri River are considered a maternal health care desert. That means many women live over 100 miles away from maternity care services.
Distance, weather, transportation and trauma are just a few of the barriers standing in the way of pregnant Native American women needing or wanting prenatal health care.
That’s coupled with a lack of providers West River — both in reservations and in the Black Hills.
“It’s crisis levels,” said Amy Elliot, chief research officer at Avera McKennon. “With the lack of obstetrics providers especially on the western side of the state. How do we find solutions, not just for recruiting more people, but also do we have to think a little bit different about how we deliver care?”
According to the South Dakota Department of Health, from 2012 to 2021, American Indians made up 20 percent of all live births, but 44 percent of all pregnancy-associated deaths.
Elliot and others want to fully understand what’s causing that issue. Elliot said a lack of data hinders insight into understanding causes or generating solutions.
“An advantage of being in a health system is we have access to quite a bit of data and we also have close partnerships with the Department of Health, Great Plains Tribal Leaders Board and other agencies around so we’re able to help maybe combine different data streams that haven’t been combined before.”
That, Elliot hopes, will lead to lasting and systemic change in better health outcomes for Native women.
