Youngkin unveils maternity, child health data dashboards

RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) -- With Black Maternal Health Week ending today, Gov. Glenn Youngkin has announced new Maternal and Child Health Data Dashboards, designed to help mothers during pregnancy, birth and postpartum.

The upgraded Material and Child Health Data Dashboard and two new dashboards that monitor and provide data on maternal mortality and pregnancy-related deaths in order to support Virginian mothers, per a release from the governor’s office on Thursday, April 17.

“More moms are alive today because of the unprecedented work of the Virginia Department of Health, the Virginia Department of Medical Assistance Services, health care providers and community partners," Youngkin said. "Today’s launch is another key step to provide the data needed for this all-hands-on-deck mission. We are making significant strides, but we will not stop working until every baby in Virginia is born to a healthy mom.”  

The first new dashboard highlights maternal mortality and relies on data from the Office of Vital Records. The second new dashboard shows pregnancy-associated death statistics.

These represent five-year "groupings and display statistics by selected demographic groups," the governor's office said.

The dashboard can be categorized by year, region, health district, locality and race/ethnicity, and it shows metrics on the following:

• Preterm births
• Birthweight
• Infant mortality
• Prenatal care
• Maternal smoking

“Pregnancy and new motherhood should be a sacred time in the life of a mom and her baby," Secretary Janet V. Kelly said. "Last year, for more than 20 women and their families, it was a time of tragedy and loss. With accurate, actionable data, we can help providers all across the Commonwealth do more to support healthy babies and healthy mothers and prevent these tragedies in the future.”

Virginia Department of Health (VDH) data shows that, in 2023 and 2024, maternal mortality is "half of what they were at their height in 2021, where 47 deaths were reported out of over 95,000 births," according to the governor's office.

This comes after Youngkin's Executive Directive Eleven from December 2024 to improve maternal health in Virginia, expanding access to health care -- built on the work done to originally reestablish the Task Force on Maternal Health Data and Quality Measures.

“For too many women, mental health, cardiac disease and other chronic diseases create difficulties during pregnancy that can lead to death,” said State Health Commissioner Karen Shelton, MD. “As an OB-GYN, I am grateful for the collaborative effort that has already saved lives and believe the new Maternal and Child Health dashboards will improve transparency, ensure data-driven decision-making and help us achieve even better results in the years ahead.” 

The Division of Population Health Data within VDH’s Office of Family Health Services manages these dashboards.