{"id":93572,"date":"2020-12-02T10:41:22","date_gmt":"2020-12-02T16:41:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/?p=93572"},"modified":"2020-12-07T12:59:36","modified_gmt":"2020-12-07T18:59:36","slug":"new-legislation-addresses-long-standing-black-maternal-health-crisis-in-america","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/new-legislation-addresses-long-standing-black-maternal-health-crisis-in-america\/","title":{"rendered":"New legislation addresses long-standing Black maternal health crisis in America"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Shivani Majmudar <\/strong>
\n Medill Reports <\/em><\/p>\n

Amid a global pandemic and a year of social unrest, a long-standing public health crisis was highlighted: racial disparities in maternal health outcomes.<\/p>\n

Black and Native American women are three to four times more likely to die from a pregnancy-related cause than a white woman, according to the most recent Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports in 2017. Research suggests more than half of these deaths are preventable<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Compounded with COVID-19, whose disparate impacts by race mirrors that of maternal mortality in the U.S., Black pregnant women faced significant risks during childbirth this year.<\/p>\n

\u201cBlack women right now are hesitant to go to the hospital knowing that these disparities are real,\u201d said Dr. Rachel Bervell, an OBGYN resident physician at the University of California Irvine Medical Center.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s why advocates and lawmakers say that the Black Maternal Health \u201cMomnibus\u201d Act of 2020 is critical to pass, especially now.<\/p>\n

Rep. Lauren Underwood (IL-14), Rep. Alma Adams (NC-12) and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris introduced the Momnibus Act in Congress on March 9 \u2013 mere days before the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a global pandemic.<\/p>\n

The Momnibus Act is designed to enhance existing policies that address America\u2019s Black maternal health crisis and fill gaps in legislation. The act is composed of nine individual bills, all of which target a different element of the issue, including social factors, funding and support for specific demographics.<\/p>\n

For a legislative breakdown of the Black Maternal Health Momnibus Act of 2020, watch the video below. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n