Harris seeks better maternal care
White House points to racial disparities in high U.S. death rates linked to childbirth.
WASHINGTON — Vice President Kamala Harris urged Congress on Tuesday to provide $3 billion more for maternal healthcare and expand postpartum Medicaid coverage to one year as part of the proposed social safety net and climate package now before the Senate.
Harris’ entreaty came at the White House’s first Maternal Health Day of Action event, held to draw attention to the U.S. maternal mortality rate, which is more than double that of most other developed nations.
“In the United States of America, in the 21st century, being pregnant and giving birth should not carry such great risk,” Harris said.
Black mothers are three to four times more likely than white mothers to die of pregnancy complications. Native American women are twice as likely as white women to die before, during or after childbirth.
Harris said investing in pregnant women and new mothers would stimulate the economy. The direct medical and indirect nonmedical costs of poor maternal healthcare amount to more than $30 billion a year in the U.S., according to the Commonwealth Fund, a private healthcare foundation.
“A healthy economy requires healthy mothers and healthy babies,” Harris said.
The maternal health event is part of the Biden administration’s effort to call out healthcare inequities and racial health disparities as well as to push more states to extend Medicaid coverage for mothers up to a year after they give birth.
Maternal health experts and advocates say extending
that coverage would ensure mothers have access to care during the crucial oneyear postpartum period.
States are now required to provide only 60 days of postpartum coverage under Medicaid.
The $1.7-trillion social safety net and climate package being negotiated in the Senate would require states to provide a year of postpartum coverage under Medicaid. The House passed a version of the bill last month.
Harris urged states to extend coverage on their own rather than waiting on Congress, saying that doing so “will save lives, and it will change lives.”
The Democrats’ package would also provide $3 billion in funding to expand the perinatal workforce, improve collection of maternal health data and address the social factors that contribute to poor maternal health outcomes.
Nationally, nearly 700 women die each year of pregnancy complications, according to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
In recent years, the CDC has found that common complications include infections, cardiovascular issues, bleeding out, high blood
pressure and pulmonary embolisms.
Black women had the highest maternal mortality rates in the nation, with around 42 deaths per 100,000 live births between 2014 and 2017, according to the CDC. Latinas had the lowest rates, with about 12 deaths per 100,000 live births in the same period.
Black mothers with health insurance and aboveaverage incomes who receive timely medical care can even encounter problems. The issue gained heightened attention in 2018, when tennis star Serena Williams and Grammy-winning singer Beyoncé publicly spoke about nearly dying in childbirth.
Allyson Felix, an Olympic track star who participated in Tuesday’s White House event, said in a statement that her pregnancy complications risked her and her daughter’s lives.
“After my traumatic experience, I decided to use my voice to call out racial injustice in our healthcare system,” said Felix, who is also Black. “I am proud to fight ... to make sure maternal health equity is a reality for all women and girls.”
Experts have long seen California as an example to
the nation of how to decrease maternal deaths.
The rate of maternal deaths in California in 2006 was 16.9 per 100,000 live births, according to the California Maternal Quality Care Collaborative, which was formed that year to bring state agencies, hospitals and health provider groups together to find preventive solutions for pregnancy complications and deaths.
By 2016, California’s maternal mortality had declined by 65%.
In October, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed into law an extension of new parents’ benefits to 12 months after birth under Medi-Cal, the state’s Medicaid program.
The law also adds doulas as eligible Medi-Cal providers; maternal health advocates have long promoted the benefits of doulas’ extra emotional and physical support for mothers before, during and after birth.
In addition, the law updates data collection and protocols for counties participating in the Fetal and Infant Mortality Review Process and establishes a fund for midwife training programs that prioritize admitting underrepresented groups.