Puffing the Life out of the State

An NPR report last semester stated that in the six most northeast counties in Wyoming, the majority of pregnant women smoke. This shocking bit of information is another issue in healthcare in the Cowboy State. It is obvious that the general health of the population could always be improved; however such a blatant disregard not only for one’s health, but also for the health of an unborn child is appalling.

Some might defend these actions by saying that they have the right to do whatever they wish to their body. This is unequivocally false. When a pregnant woman smokes, her actions do not only affect her health. Her baby is at risk also.

• A recent study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention determined that the number of women in Wyoming as a whole who smoke when pregnant is nearly double the national average. The rate in Wyoming is 20.7 percent. Free and True Wyoming

People have known for decades that smoking while pregnant is detrimental to the health of the mother and the baby. That this problem still exists is a function of poor education.
• When women smoke during pregnancy, their babies suffer the brunt of the consequences. State Health Officer, Brent Sherard, stated some of the risks include: low birth weights, miscarriages, childhood morbidity and long-term learning disabilities. According to a 2004 CDC report, neonatal costs for babies born to mothers who smoked in the state of Wyoming exceeded a quarter of a million dollars. Just in terms of dollars, smoking while pregnant is a horrible idea.
• Besides the direct health effects on children born to mothers who smoked while pregnant, the most dreadful consequence is that these children are learning habits from their parents. It is a personal choice to use tobacco products, but they are also predisposing their children to continue the cycle. Children whose parents smoke are twice as likely to pick up the habit Parenting Article (see footnote 4)

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The solution to the problem of Wyoming women smoking while pregnant is education. It may seem redundant, but the overwhelming thing these women have in common is a lack of education. Women in this state need to understand that their actions affect their health, but perhaps more important, their children’s health and opportunities.

Liability Reform

Wyoming is home to some of the nation’s most incredible wonders: Yellowstone, Devil’s Tower and… rampant healthcare issues. Such issues include uninsured and underinsured citizens, physician shortage due to exorbitant liability insurance costs, and the general health of the population. Wyoming is in need of rapid reform to assuage these issues.

In a December 2007 address about medical liability reform, Wyoming U.S. Sen. John Barrasso illuminated some of the most pressing issues facing healthcare in Wyoming. "Wyoming, my home State, has been listed by the AMA as one of 19 medical liability crisis States,” he said. Many doctors, he continued, have left the state due to exorbitant malpractice insurance costs. This has led to a severe physician shortage.

While malpractice suits are an important check on the healthcare system, the huge monetary settlements, and subsequent premiums paid by physicians for insurance, have left the state in crisis. Patients should have the right to sue their physician for malpractice if such action has occurred, but to allow these suits to exceed the damage is destructive to the system.

Every state surrounding Wyoming has enacted some legislation to reform liability. Thus, Wyoming is experiencing an exodus of physicians to these states where practicing medicine is more affordable. Barrasso stated that this issue presents a huge problem in recruiting physicians to the state. Wyoming continues to train physicians who then leave to practice in states with liability reform.

The consequence of excessive liability premiums is that many patients, especially pregnant women, are without healthcare. Barrasso continued in his speech, “Pregnant women in Newcastle, WY, needed to travel over 80 miles to have babies delivered when practicing physicians in that community were not able to afford the cost of their liability insurance.” This puts an incredible burden on families expecting new babies. These women are in essence without accessible natal healthcare.

Wyoming is in desperate need of liability reform not only to encourage physician recruitment to a state that is sorely lacking in medical professionals, but also to promote the health of the people of Wyoming. It is within our grasp to provide quality and accessible healthcare to the rural women who deserve it, but most of all to their innocent, unborn children.

To view Sen. Barrasso’s speech, click here: Barrasso Speech

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