Many Pregnant Women Live Too Far From a Doctor to Get Regular Care. Here's How Technology Can Help

For anyone who is pregnant, having a hospital delivery room nearby means knowing that when the baby arrives medical assistance will be close at hand. But for too many of those in rural America, this comfort is often no longer available—and it is putting both women and babies at risk. In fact, the United States is the only industrialized nation with an increasing rate of maternal mortality and this problem hits women of color especially hard. The Federal Communications Commission has a long history of working to promote access to telehealth in rural communities. In the Telecommunications Act of 1996, Congress charged the agency with providing support to rural healthcare centers to assist with the cost of communications used to offer medical care. As a result, healthcare providers in some of the most remote areas of the country count on the FCC to stay connected to provide a range of medical services, including timely expertise from specialists at a distance. As an FCC commissioner, I think we can do more to help address pressing problems in healthcare — like maternal mortality.

1. The FCC could start by developing data exploring the connection between broadband deployment and access to maternal care. 
2. The FCC has proposed a $100 million pilot program to explore connected care. At the Mayo Clinic, they are exploring how expectant mothers could use wireless connected-care technology at home to communicate critical healthcare measurements with their providers. This technology could lead to fewer routine visits and improved health outcomes for pregnant women, and properly developed, the FCC’s pilot program could provide support across the country for the extension of these efforts in rural areas where obstetric care is no longer nearby.
3. The FCC should revisit its recent proposal to slash the Lifeline program. 
4. The FCC should identify how its work can support the initiatives proposed in the Rural MOMS Act, which would expand initiatives to address maternal health in remote areas, including training for those seeking to practice obstetric medicine in rural communities, funding to increase access to technology for pregnancy care and additional data collection and reporting on maternal mortality.