Kim Taylor, a delegate from Virginia, said that the new state dashboard will enhance tracking and decision-making to improve maternal and child health outcomes. This statement was made on X.
“As a member of the Maternal Health Taskforce, I have the privilege of joining stakeholders in the healthcare community on a monthly basis to discuss data and determine how we can enhance outcomes for mothers and babies,” said Kimberly A. Taylor, Virginia State Delegate for 82nd District. “Today we were proud to announce the Virginia Department of Health’s new dashboard to help keep track of current data and metrics. This data will be used to help improve maternal and child health outcomes, programs, and policies throughout Virginia!”
In April 2025, the Virginia Department of Health (VDH) launched upgraded maternal-and-child-health data dashboards. These include separate tools for maternal mortality and pregnancy-associated deaths, designed to provide policymakers, researchers, and the public with real-time access to metrics by year, region, race, and ethnicity. According to the Virginia Mercury, this initiative is part of a broader effort to address persistent disparities in maternal outcomes, particularly among Black women.
According to VDH’s “Maternal & Child Health – Data” dashboard, in 2023 Virginia recorded 92,639 live births, a preterm birth rate of 9.8%, and an infant mortality rate of 5.8 deaths per 1,000 live births. The same dashboard shows a maternal mortality rate of 34.5 deaths per 100,000 live births for the period from 2019 to 2023.
A comparative overview by the March of Dimes’ 2024 report places Virginia’s infant and maternal health indicators in the context of national trends. For instance, the state’s teen birth rate for 2022 was 22.5 per 1,000 among females aged 15-19. This rate was notably higher among Hispanic females (24.7) compared to Asian females (1.1), highlighting Virginia’s alignment with national challenges related to racial and ethnic disparities in maternal-child health.
Taylor is a Republican member of the Virginia House of Delegates representing District 82 since January 10, 2024, according to Ballotpedia. She holds a B.A. in psychology from Virginia Commonwealth University and worked as a small-business owner before entering politics; her committee assignments include the Health and Human Services Committee.
The VDH serves as the lead statewide public-health agency in the Commonwealth of Virginia with a mission “to protect the health and promote the well-being of all people in Virginia” and aims to be “the healthiest state in the nation.” It operates under oversight from the State Board of Health and is structured with divisions such as Population Health & Preparedness, Community Health Services, and Governmental & Regulatory Affairs.
