Category: Maternal Health

1 big thing: Staffing standard could boost unionization efforts in nursing homes A looming national staffing mandate for nursing homes could open the door for more labor organizing in a sector where a low proportion of workers are covered by union contracts, Axios’ Arielle Dreher writes. Why it matters: Higher pay, better benefits and baseline staff-to-patient ratios could lure […]

For over three decades, the maternal mortality rate in the United States has steadily increased, with Black women and birthing people facing a disproportionate percentage of poor health outcomes. To address the crisis levels of maternal mortality, lawmakers and advocates are increasingly recognizing doula care as a promising, cost-effective tool to improve maternal health outcomes and reduce […]

April 11, 2023 Press Release WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Rep. Robin Kelly (IL-02) issued the following statement to mark the beginning of Black Maternal Health Week: “Protecting the health of Black women and girls should be beyond negotiation and policy dealing. Disparities in maternal death rates and maternal morbidity remain dire for Black mothers when compared to […]

JANUARY 23, 2023 WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senators Cory Booker and Bob Menendez (both D-N.J.) introduced a resolution recognizing January 23 as Maternal Health Awareness Day. In 2018, New Jersey became the first state to recognize January 23 as Maternal Health Awareness Day through the work of the Tara Hansen Foundation, Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, Rutgers New Jersey […]

12.22.22 Washington D.C. – Oregon’s U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley and Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) today announced that their bipartisan Providing Urgent Maternal Protections (PUMP) for Nursing Mothers Act was passed with overwhelming bipartisan support as an amendment to Congress’s fiscal year 2023 omnibus appropriations package, which is expected to pass both chambers of Congress and be signed […]

Washington, D.C. — United States Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Representative Lauren Underwood (D-Ill.) led Senators Tina Smith (D-Minn.), Cory Booker (D-N.J.), and Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) in reintroducing the Maternal Health Pandemic Response Act to improve research and data collection, safeguard the health of pregnant and postpartum individuals, and ensure that the COVID-19 pandemic does not exacerbate poor […]

November 30, 2022 – Passing the “Momnibus” Act is the #1 Issue for Voters in Upcoming End-of-Year Package with Majority Support from Independents and Republicans Washington DC — New Navigator polling reveals 72 percent of voters support passing the “Momnibus” legislation to reduce preventable deaths in moms. America has the highest maternal mortality rate of any industrialized country […]

COVID-19 contributed to a quarter of all U.S. maternal deaths last year and in 2020, according to an oversight report. The report, released Wednesday morning by the U.S. Government Accountability Office, a nonpartisan government auditing agency, details maternal mortality disparities during the pandemic and how the coronavirus contributed to overall maternal deaths. Out of last […]