Black Maternal Health Momnibus
The United States has the highest maternal mortality rate of any high-income country and significant disparities in outcomes – and the crisis is only worsening: the maternal mortality rate in 2021 was 89 percent higher than the rate in 2018. The Black Maternal Health Momnibus Act will address this crisis through historic investments that comprehensively address every driver of maternal mortality, morbidity, and disparities in the United States.
Bill summary
The Black Maternal Health Momnibus Act includes 13 individual bills that will:
- Make critical investments in social determinants of health that influence maternal health outcomes, like housing, transportation, and nutrition.
- Extend WIC eligibility in the postpartum and breastfeeding periods.
- Provide funding to community-based organizations that are working to improve maternal health outcomes and promote equity.
- Increase funding for programs to improve maternal health care for veterans.
- Grow and diversify the perinatal workforce to ensure that every mom in America receives maternal health care and support from people they trust.
- Improve data collection processes and quality measures to better understand the causes of the maternal health crisis in the United States and inform solutions to address it.
- Support moms with maternal mental health conditions and substance use disorders.
- Improve maternal health care and support for incarcerated moms.
- Invest in digital tools to improve maternal health outcomes in underserved areas.
- Promote innovative payment models to incentivize high-quality maternity care and non-clinical support during and after pregnancy.
- Invest in federal programs to address maternal and infant health risks during public health emergencies.
- Invest in community-based initiatives to reduce levels of and exposure to climate change-related risks for moms and babies.
- Promote maternal vaccinations to protect the health of moms and babies.
Use this link for more information https://blackmaternalhealthcaucus-underwood.house.gov/Momnibus
SISTATEACHER’S THOUGHTS
On Wednesday, September 20, 2023, I joined my sorority, Zeta Phi Beta Sorority Inc., to advocate for the Momnibus Act.
Please contact and write your elected officials urging them to pass the Momnibus Act so all 13 Bills become law. Also, encourage similar legislation in your home state because all politics are local.
My home state: NJ
NJ continues to address Black Maternal Health.
Combating New Jersey’s Maternal and Infant Mortality Crisis
On Maternal Health Awareness Day 2019, First Lady Tammy Murphy launched Nurture NJ, a statewide initiative committed to transforming New Jersey into the safest and most equitable state in the nation to deliver and raise a baby.
Currently, New Jersey is ranked 29th in the nation for maternal deaths[1] and has one of the widest racial disparities for both maternal and infant mortality. A Black mother in New Jersey is almost seven times more likely than a white mother to die from maternity-related complications, and a Black baby is nearly three times more likely than a white baby to die before his or her first birthday. For Hispanic mothers, the rate is 3.5 compared with white mothers and for Hispanic babies, the rate is nearly 1.5.[2]
This is completely unacceptable. We should not be losing any mothers or babies in childbirth.
At the root of these disparities lies generations of systemic racism and its effect on social determinants of health. These factors have historically limited women and infants, especially Black moms and babies, from having the opportunity to simply be healthy.
To change course on this abhorrent reality, we are making long-term, sustainable changes to completely transform the maternal health landscape of our state and every fundamental element influencing a mother’s life and health.
In January 2021, the First Lady unveiled the Nurture NJ Maternal and Infant Health Strategic Plan – a blueprint to reduce New Jersey’s maternal mortality by 50 percent over five years and eliminate racial disparities in birth outcomes. This plan was the culmination of over a year of in-person and virtual meetings with hundreds of critical stakeholders, including national public health experts, New Jersey state departments and agencies, health systems, physicians, doulas, community organizations, and mothers and families.
Nurture NJ encompasses the entire work of the Murphy Administration on maternal and infant health. In addition to the Strategic Plan, Nurture NJ’s ongoing efforts include over 43 pieces of maternal and infant health legislation signed by Governor Murphy, funding for groundbreaking programs and policies, an annual Black Maternal and Infant Health Leadership Summit, a Family Festival event series, and the development of a first-of-its-kind Maternal and Infant Health Innovation Center to continue the work beyond this administration.
Together, we are solving this crisis and will make New Jersey the safest, most equitable place in the nation to deliver and raise a baby.
Find the Strategic Plan here https://nurturenj.nj.gov/
This issue can be rectified with eliminating racial health disparities with the equitable allocation of resources.
sistateacher 