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Central Valley Daily

Feb. 19: Has The Maternal Health Crisis In Kern County Improved?

By Elizabeth Arakelian,
Kerry Klein, Jonathan Linden
Published February 19, 2026 at 4:45 AM PST
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In 2022, KVPR brought you a series of investigative stories highlighting a health crisis in Kern County - specifically, that mothers and babies were dying there at a higher rate than in the rest of the state. Now, almost four years later, has pregnancy-related health improved? KVPR’s Kerry Klein discusses new data and developments from the region.

Plus, the latest news headlines: California’s attorney general challenges a diversion given to a former Kern County supervisor, and why the High Speed Rail Authority CEO is on leave.

Central Valley Daily
Elizabeth Arakelian
A Valley native, Elizabeth earned her bachelor's degree in English Language Literatures from the University of California, Santa Cruz and her master's degree in journalism from New York University. She has covered a range of beats. Her agriculture reporting for the Turlock Journal earned her a first place award from the California Newspaper Publishers Association.
See stories by Elizabeth Arakelian
Kerry Klein
Kerry Klein is an award-winning reporter whose coverage of public health, air pollution, drinking water access and wildfires in the San Joaquin Valley has been featured on NPR, KQED, Science Friday and Kaiser Health News. Her work has earned numerous regional Edward R. Murrow and Golden Mike Awards and has been recognized by the Association of Health Care Journalists and Society of Environmental Journalists. Her podcast Escape From Mammoth Pool was named a podcast “listeners couldn’t get enough of in 2021” by the radio aggregator NPR One.
See stories by Kerry Klein
Jonathan Linden
Jonathan Linden is a podcast producer at KVPR. Born and raised in Riverside, he's a Southern California native. Jonathan's passion for public radio began at a young age when his brother would play NPR while driving him home from middle school. He earned his B.A. in journalism from Biola University in 2019.
See stories by Jonathan Linden