New data tools provide insights on maternal and child health

Beginning today, Texans have new tools to understand conditions around maternal and child health in the state. The Texas Department of State Health Services has launched new public data dashboards on maternal health and infant health as part of its Texas Health Data suite of data products.

The dashboards currently include information on maternal mortality and pregnancy risk factors like mental health, high blood pressure and smoking. The infant health section covers infant mortality, causes of death and preterm birth. The dashboards will be expanded over the coming months to add data on birth demographics, infant health practices, prenatal and postpartum care and severe maternal morbidity.

“These new dashboards are part of DSHS’s ongoing work to share the important public health data we have more widely and in a more user-friendly format,” said DSHS Commissioner Jennifer Shuford, MD, MPH. “Our goal is to allow researchers, policy makers and the public to join us in using this data to improve health in Texas.”

DSHS has published this data in static reports for years, but the dashboards bring it to life and make it interactive in a new way. They also provide new opportunities to add context and help people understand what the information really means.

In the past year, DSHS has launched interactive data dashboards on fentanyl trends and the number of Texans affected by seasonal respiratory viruses. The agency continues to develop new tools to highlight public health in the state, including one that will focus on the ongoing syphilis epidemic in Texas and the United States.

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(News Media Contact: Chris Van Deusen, DSHS Director of Media Relations, 512-776-7119)