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Statement

With Maternal Mortality Rates Rising, Congress Must Act

July 24, 2018
Maternal Health, Health Care

Lisa Lederer, 202-371-1996

Statement from Kristin Rowe-Finkbeiner, CEO and executive director of MomsRising, an online and on-the-ground organization of more than one million mothers and their families, on the imperative to pass legislation that will address our nation’s appalling rate of maternal mortality:

“The United States has the worst maternal mortality rate in the developed world and it’s getting worse, not better. Put simply, moms are dying in childbirth and Black moms are at especially high risk. Congress needs to prioritize the health and lives of those who give birth.

“The Maternal Health Accountability Act, now before the U.S. Senate and its U.S. House counterpart, the Preventing Maternal Deaths Act, can help prevent these deaths by supporting states in reviewing the causes, establishing maternal mortality review committees, improving education for health care providers, and publicly disclosing information on the causes of maternal mortality. This will allow states and health systems to develop recommendations to reduce the disproportionate deaths of Black mothers and to begin addressing the appalling racial disparities that persist in our health care system and our country today.

“We are pleased that the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee passed the Maternal Health Accountability Act, but the full House and full Senate need to pass this legislation now, so we can better understand and quickly reverse this shameful problem. We are a wealthy nation and there is simply no excuse for our dire rates of pregnancy-related deaths. This issue is quite literally life-or-death for pregnant women in the United States. Congress must act now.”

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MomsRising.org is an on-the-ground and online grassroots organization of more than a million people who are working to increase family economic security, decrease discrimination against women and moms, and to build a nation where businesses and families can thrive. Established in 2006, MomsRising and its members are organizing and speaking out to improve public policy and to change the national dialogue on issues that are critically important to America’s families, including criminal justice reform, immigration policy reform, and gun safety. MomsRising is working for paid family and medical leave, affordable, high quality childcare and early learning, and for an end to the wage and hiring discrimination which penalizes women — particularly moms and women of color — and so many others. MomsRising advocates for access to healthy food for all kids, health care for all, earned sick days, and breastfeeding rights so that all children can have a healthy start. MomsRising maintains a Spanish language website: MamásConPoder.org. Sign up online at www.MomsRising.org — and follow us on our blog, and on Twitter and Facebook.