The Value of Good Reporting

Date:

By Rep. Dusty Johnson

January 31, 2020

On days I’m home in South Dakota, I sit down for my morning bowl of Wheaties and flip through our local papers. This week, as I ate my bowl of cereal, I came across a well-researched and well-written article. The title was: “Effort begins to reduce risk of death of South Dakota mothers during childbirth.” It was written by local reporter Nick Lowrey from South Dakota News Watch and placed in many papers throughout the state.

It struck me for two reasons – one, it’s shocking because even as one of the most developed nations in the world, our mothers are dying during childbirth at the highest rate, and two, because the very next day I would be attending a congressional committee hearing on the same topic.

It’s important I go prepared to these hearings and the Education and Labor Committee does a fantastic job sending memos to ensure everyone is up to speed. The information is always helpful, but it’s not typically South Dakota specific. That’s where Nick’s article came in – because of his reporting I walked into that hearing knowing 60% of maternal deaths are preventable, that maternal “pregnancy-associated” deaths in South Dakota averaged 7.2 per year between 2010 and 2018, and nine South Dakota mothers died within a year of giving birth in 2018 alone.

To be frank, these are terrible statistics and hard to read. When I attended the Education and Labor hearing on maternal health, I was able to include Nick’s article in the Congressional Record for the rest of the committee and our entire nation to reference. There are several reasons the U.S. has seen an increase in maternal deaths – higher rates of obesity and diabetes, as well as giving birth at older ages have all played a role. According to Nick’s research, South Dakota does not keep data on severe pregnancy complications. During this week’s hearing, the witnesses expressed continuous concerns over the lack of information on maternal complications.

We can’t solve a problem if we can’t understand it.

There are new protocols being put into place, though, and hospitals like Sanford are working on their own set of practices to improve the safety of mothers. There is much work to be done across the U.S. and it may take years, but I’m glad organizations throughout the country and Congress are working to tackle this issue.

Investigative reporting plays a crucial role in exposing flaws in our many systems – and in this case, articles like Nick’s may help save lives. We’re living in a time where click-bait articles are taking over our news feeds – but I’m grateful South Dakota’s journalists are focused on news that matters.

Share post:

spot_img

Related articles

Honoring Those Who Serve

By Rep. Dusty Johnson May 27, 2022             Our nation’s Armed Forces know the weight of sacrifice. Each servicemember sacrificed...

Memorial Day Service 2021

The Garretson American Legion hosted their annual Memorial Day services on Monday, May 31 at 7 p.m. One...

Johnson in Sioux Falls and Garretson on Memorial Day

Washington, D.C. – U.S. Representative Dusty Johnson (R-S.D.) will speak at the Memorial Day ribbon cutting ceremony at the...

Tested

By Rep. Dusty Johnson January 8, 2021 Our U.S. Constitution was tested this week. As you most of South Dakota now...

Log In

Latest articles

2024 Homecoming Hijinks and Hoedown, happy fun for everyone

GHS Homecoming celebrations happened all week last week, making this our annual, photo-heavy issue. Enjoy!

Garretson kids have a lot of character!

            On Sunday, young children from all over the area gathered at Blue Dragon Academy for the Character...

Garretson Oktoberfest Sept. 20th

            Oktoberfest is returning to Garretson! The Sports Cabin is hosting Oktoberfest this Friday, Sept 20, with festivities...

Homecoming Heartbreak from the Blue Dragons

            The Garretson Blue Dragons had a case of homecoming heartbreak on Friday night, despite playing a very...

Blue Dragon Volleyball at the Big East, a rollercoaster of good and rough games

by Kelsey Buchholz             The Blue Dragon volleyball team has had a rollercoaster of a season so far starting...

Ethan McGregor places 1st at Viborg/Hurley

            On Monday, the Garretson Cross Country team headed to Viborg for the Viborg/Hurley meet.             There, the athletes...
s2Member®