Dear Neighbor,

When we discuss righting past harms and addressing systemic racism, the to-do list is long. But there may not be a more urgent injustice to remedy than the Black Maternal Mortality Crisis. Our country has the highest maternal mortality rate in the developed world with 17 maternal deaths for every 100,000 live births in the United States. That rate is more than double that of most other high-income countries. This high overall mortality rate is caused, in part, because of the disproportionately high maternal mortality rate among Black people. Black people are 3.2 times more likely to die from pregnancy-related causes than white people. This disparity affects Black women across all educational and income levels and socioeconomic statuses and is directly attributable to historical and ongoing systemic racism.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 700 people die annually in the United States during pregnancy, or within the year following their pregnancy, and 50,000 people face severe pregnancy-related complications. Most of these deaths are preventable.  For example, two of the leading causes of death, hemorrhage and infection, are treatable, yet still account for 11.2 percent and 12.5 percent of deaths among pregnant or postpartum women, respectively. Other leading causes of pregnancy-related deaths such as cardiomyopathy, thrombotic pulmonary embolism, and hypertensive disorders of pregnancy, contributed more to deaths among Black women than among white women. Further, Black women are more likely to be given cesarean sections, which have a mortality and morbidity rate three times higher than natural childbirths, even in low-risk pregnancies.

Even among states that have improved their maternal mortality rates, disparate outcomes for Black people persist. For example, California used data from maternal death investigations to implement changes in their emergency care practices related to birthing complications.  This data collection and analysis led to a significant decrease in the state’s maternal mortality rate well below the national average. Yet, three times as many Black Californians continue to die from pregnancy-related causes.

The maternal mortality crisis is a multi-faceted problem but rooted in the systemic racism in our institutions and policies. A 2016 study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, for example, found that 50 percent of doctors and residents falsely believe Black people experience less pain than white people. These persistent medical fallacies can cause providers to withhold care and ignore medical complications, resulting in poorer health outcomes for Black people.

Environmental factors, such as disproportionate exposure to pollution are also tied to disparate health outcomes. Black people, regardless of income, are exposed to 54 percent more soot pollution than the overall population. Both soot and smog pollution are linked to increased asthma, especially among children, and preterm births, birth defects, developmental delays in children, strokes, heart attacks, dementia in older adults, lung cancer, and other health problems.

In short, racism is a public health crisis. From the COVID-19 pandemic to the Black Maternal Mortality Crisis. We have yet to address the systemic racism in our health care system.  Thankfully, we have leaders like Vice President Harris and Congresswomen Adams, Pressley, Underwood, and Bush who are raising awareness and calling for action. I am proud to support proposals like the Black Maternal Health Momnibus Act (H.R. 959), which takes a comprehensive approach to addressing the Black maternal mortality crisis through investments in data collection, social determinants of health, maternal behavioral health, the perinatal workforce, and community-based organizations.

I was also proud to support the Helping Medicaid Offer Maternity Services (MOMS) Act, which incentivizes states to extend Medicaid coverage for new moms through the entire postpartum period and was recently enacted as part of the American Rescue Plan. Currently, States are required to provide Medicaid coverage for only 60 days postpartum even though data show us that 70 percent of new mothers experience at least one health complication within the year after giving birth. CDC data confirms that about one-third of all pregnancy-related deaths occur one week to one year after a pregnancy ends.

Medicaid is already the largest single payer of maternity care and is a powerful tool that we must deploy in our mission to improve maternal health. States that have expanded Medicaid have lower maternal mortality rates with 1.6 fewer maternal deaths per 100,000 women. This reduction is tied to access to health care before pregnancy and women in expansion states have a significantly lower uninsured rate at 9 percent than those in non-expansion states at 16 percent.  I am proud that Virginia recently expanded Medicaid allowing more than 500,000 Virginians to gain coverage, and I was pleased to see Governor Northam’s Maternal Health Strategic Plan which proposes expanding Medicaid postpartum coverage to 12 months.

Every Member of Congress swears an oath to support and defend the Constitution of the United States – and one of the greatest threats to ensuring justice, the general welfare, and the blessings of liberty for every American is the outrageous moral failure of the most wealthy country in the world in allowing this Black Maternal Health Crisis to continue.

Please continue to take care of yourselves and each other. As always, my office stands ready to help if you or a loved one need assistance. Please don't hesitate to call us at (703) 256-3071, or visit my website here.