Ann Arbor Times

A government shutdown has resulted in a halt to federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits for about 1.4 million people in Michigan. Lee Roosevelt, a clinical associate professor at the University of Michigan School of Nursing, says that her midwifery patients are among those most affected by the loss of this support.

Roosevelt explained that losing SNAP, even for a short time, forces families to make difficult choices about essential expenses such as rent, utilities, transportation, medication, and child care. She said, "When a pregnant patient loses SNAP, even briefly, food money must come from rent, utilities, transportation, meds or child care. Policy analysts have documented that a family losing even a few hundred dollars of SNAP benefits forces tradeoffs that directly hit health-critical expenses. That cascade shows up as a deterioration of diet, including less produce and protein sources, and a switch to cheaper, energy-dense foods that are linked to higher risks of gestational diabetes, hypertensive disorders and preterm birth."

She noted that research consistently finds food assistance during pregnancy helps reduce these health risks. The lack of assistance can also mean patients miss prenatal appointments because they need to use limited funds for food or transportation to food banks. "This work, more often than not, lays on the backs of women, many of which are pregnant or breastfeeding," she added.

Roosevelt described the increased health risks associated with losing SNAP: "Even temporary loss of benefits increases food insecurity. In pregnancy, that can mean days to weeks of skipped meals or low-nutrient substitutions that worsen glycemic control and blood pressure and provide inadequate nutrients for a growing pregnancy, resulting in preterm birth and low birth-weight babies. Studies show SNAP access before and during pregnancy improves maternal cardiometabolic health and birth weight distributions. Losing access means patients may prioritize the nutrition of their existing children over their own nutrition."

She also discussed the connection between food insecurity and mental health: "Food insecurity is consistently associated with higher rates of depression, anxiety and stress in parents. Stress then worsens glucose control, blood pressure, sleep and healthy behaviors. In pregnancy, that bidirectional loop contributes to adverse outcomes and can complicate lactation and postpartum recovery. Screening and addressing food need is therefore also a mental health intervention."

On the relationship between SNAP and WIC (the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children), Roosevelt said: "SNAP and WIC serve complementary but distinct roles in supporting nutritional health during pregnancy and early childhood. SNAP... provides monthly benefits that households can use to purchase a wide variety of foods... WIC is a targeted program specifically designed for pregnant and postpartum people... It offers a prescribed food package focused on key nutrients..." She emphasized that both programs together help stabilize families’ food security.

Many families relying on SNAP are working households living close to financial instability despite full-time employment. Roosevelt stated: "For them, SNAP is the crucial support that keeps the household balanced... There is no cushion." The absence of these benefits has led some patients to faint from low blood sugar after rationing their remaining groceries.

She shared one patient's frustration: "One of my patients last week expressed incredible anger that while she was denying her kids seconds at dinner to ensure that she had enough food to send for their lunches the next day, politicians couldn’t even be bothered to show up to work to come up with a compromise."

Roosevelt criticized policymakers' actions regarding benefit suspensions: "It is such an enormous violation of a cultural reverence for children and new life to watch politicians using the lives of children as a bargaining chip... There isn’t a religion in the world whose tenets would support using the lives of the poor for personal and financial gain... From an ethical perspective... It is anti-family, anti-child and anti-life."

She concluded by highlighting how policy decisions affect vulnerable populations: "Regardless of what people think about the adults that receive SNAP benefits, the decisions that politicians are making impact babies and children who have no say in how food is acquired in their family..."