Babies Are More Likely to Die in States That Did Not Expand Medicaid

As the country grapples with increasing rates of maternal mortality, a new study from the Georgetown University Center of Health Policy found that one of the biggest things a state can do for the health of new mothers and babies is to expand Medicaid.

The United States is the only developed country where the maternal mortality rate has increased, doubling over the past two decades. Though the rate of infant mortality has declined 15 percent in the past decade, the United States still has one of the highest in the developed world -- more than double that of Japan and Sweden.