During or right after pregnancy, have your doctor check for gallstones. Apparently it's really common after pregnancy to need to have your gallbladder removed, but Medicaid coverage only lasts about 2 months after birth. You might not know you have gallstones until they cause problems. My ob never mentioned that this could happen, and it wasn't in any of my pregnancy books.

I found out that I had gallstones when they caused pancreatitis. It's horrible and painful, and I had to stay in the hospital for days before I could get my gallbladder removed. If it had happened a week or two later, I would have had an extended hospital stay plus surgery without insurance.

I wanted to give all the women on Medicaid a heads up so that y'all can prevent a painful condition, and deal with it while you still have coverage.