MomsRising has experts available to discuss our country’s maternal health crisis during Black Maternal Health Week this week, including Tina Sherman, our National Director for Maternal Justice who is a North Carolina-based doula; and Monifa Bandele, our Senior Vice President, a maternal health expert whose Texas-based grandmother was once denied maternal health care because of her race.

The United States is the most dangerous place to give birth in the developed world. We are the only industrialized nation where maternal mortality has risen over the past two decades. American women are more likely to die from pregnancy-related complications than women in the United Kingdom, Libya, and Kazakhstan – and Black women here are dying from pregnancy-related causes at 3 to 4 times the rate of white women. Most of these deaths are preventable.

Those numbers could get even worse if Republicans in Congress slash the budget for Medicaid, which is a lifeline for moms and babies. Cuts to Medicaid would be disastrous. Medicaid covers more than 40% of births in our country, including half of births in rural communities. It provides vital prenatal and postpartum care and accounts for 75% of public family planning dollars. Put simply, cutting this vital program would endanger moms, babies, and families — especially in Black, Brown, and low-income communities that already face significant health disparities.

MomsRising experts are available to discuss what’s at stake for Black maternal health as Congress debates the FY26 budget, which may include cuts to Medicaid. Please contact lisa@momsrising.org or magen@momsrising.org to be connected. Thank you.