University of Kentucky V.I.P. Program aims to decrease the maternal mortality rate

BOWLING GREEN. Ky.- Across Kentucky 80 to 90% of maternal deaths are associated with violence, drug abuse and depression and anxiety.

A team of researchers at the University of Kentucky are hoping to reduce that number. The university has developed the V.I.P. (Violence Intervention and Prevention) Core in hopes to better educate medical professionals, mothers and caretakers to prevent deaths.

Dr. Ann Cocker, the principal investigator of the study, says, “My job is to help our community understand that full year after delivery or the pregnancy has ended that’s when the greatest risks of primarily murders but also suicide occur.”

The second goal for this program is to create a system that takes a deeper dive into the mother and the environment around her.