The government shutdown is threatening to cut off SNAP payments beginning tomorrow, November 1st. States across the country have warned they cannot issue benefits without federal funding, leaving 42 million people wondering if they’ll be able to buy food this month. Many of the families we serve will be affected, and we need your support.
How We Got Here
At the same time, permanent cuts under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act are taking effect, meaning 22.3 million families—including pregnant women, new mothers, and families with infants—will lose some or all of their SNAP benefits even after the government reopens [CBS News]. That’s 22.3 million households where someone, most often a mother protecting her children, will go to bed hungry. Families face a double crisis: immediate suspension from the shutdown AND permanent cuts from new policy.
OBBBA requires 20 hours of work weekly. At minimum wage, that’s $145-$180 per week before taxes—less than average childcare costs in most areas. An even those who qualify can only receive benefits for three months out of every three years [Center on Budget and Policy Priorities]. When the law goes into effect tomorrow, a pregnant mother receiving SNAP now will exhaust her benefits before her baby arrives, leaving her without nutritional support during the fourth trimester when she’s healing and most vulnerable.
What This Means for Maternal Health
Food insecurity affects more than 10% of Americans, and it’s a major driver of health inequities, particularly for pregnant women and racial minorities. Black women are disproportionately affected, comprising a larger proportion of food-insecure households. When you can’t afford nutritious food during pregnancy, your risk of complications escalates.
The research is clear—food insecurity during pregnancy and postpartum directly increases maternal depression (up to 7x higher risk), impairs mother-infant bonding, increases parenting stress, and leads to worse infant health outcomes requiring emergency care [NIH]. Children born to food-insecure mothers face an 18% increased risk of emergency department visits in their first year of life.
Women with food insecurity have also reported concerns about breastmilk quality and supply because of poor diet and stress, leading them to supplement with or switch to formula. But formula costs money—money families don’t have after losing SNAP. Either way, new mothers lose [NIH].
The Domino Effect
Every dollar of SNAP benefits generates up to $1.80 in local economic activity. When SNAP is cut, stores lose customers, grocers lose business, and jobs disappear. This isn’t just a hunger crisis—it’s an economic one. Food insecurity doesn’t occur in isolation—it’s tied to housing insecurity, economic instability, discrimination, and racism. These are the systemic barriers we name plainly and challenge fiercely.
As Katelyn Jetelina, MPH said: “If the government doesn’t act, the fallout will be a significant public health challenge. More than 40 million low-income Americans (1 in 8 households) would lose funds they rely on to buy food, an average of $190 per person per month. Grocery stores would feel it too, facing both lost sales and frustrated customers. The impact will go far beyond food, too. A 2015 study found that SNAP benefits create ripple effects across the economy, allowing families to pay rent, keep their cars, and cover other essentials—often the very things people sacrifice when food runs short. SNAP helps people move out of poverty.”
Ready to help? Here’s what you can do:
Many of the mothers 4th Trimester serves will lose SNAP benefits tomorrow. We are rallying volunteers and community members to help ensure families—especially those who are pregnant or postpartum—don’t go without food during this critical time.
Here’s how you can help:
- Volunteer to be a “Community Hub”: Serve as local drop-off points for neighborhood food collection. Organize food into delivery boxes (with our help) and we will coordinate DoorDash drivers to collect and deliver food directly to families. Sign up here.
- Be a Grocery Buddy: Next time you go grocery shopping, purchase a gift card in the same amount you paid for your own groceries. Mail us the gift card and we will distribute ASAP to a family in need.
- Make a Cash Contribution: Every donation helps us reach more families with essential support. Donate here.
- Contact Your Representative: Urge Congress to act swiftly to fund SNAP and end policies that leave pregnant and postpartum families without food.
Let’s be frank: SNAP cuts threaten lives. Maternal lives. Infant lives. The health of entire communities.
4th Trimester has always been about filling the gap, and we’re here for this one, too. We’re not stopping until every mother and birthing person has what they need to survive and thrive in the fourth trimester.
This is what it means to take care of each other when the system won’t.
Questions? Email us: care@4thtri.org
