The U.S. is in the midst of a maternal mortality crisis: rates of maternal death are rising and Black women continue to die from pregnancy-related causes at more than twice the national average. Unfortunately, the Supreme Court decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization to allow states to ban abortion could make the maternal […]
During last April’s Black Maternal Health Week, hosted by Black Mammas Alliance, policymakers, advocates, and community members came together to shed light and share policy solutions to combat the current maternal health crisis greatly affecting Black and brown birthing people in the US, which only worsened with the pandemic. The most recent CDC data shows […]
New moms experiencing mental health challenges now have access to a free, confidential 24-hour hotline to help them talk through their challenges with counselors trained to offer maternal mental health support, Biden Administration officials announced earlier this month. The new maternal mental health hotline, accessible for free by call or text to 1-833-9-HELP4MOMS, is live […]
More people had stable access to Medicaid coverage in the year after giving birth during the COVID-19 pandemic, which suggests that the Families First Coronavirus Response Act’s Medicaid continuous coverage provision, which linked receipt of enhanced federal Medicaid and CHIP funding to a prohibition on involuntary disenrollment from Medicaid during the COVID-19 public health emergency, […]
By Maggie Clark and Kay Johnson Last month, policymakers and advocates marked the fifth-annual Black Maternal Health Week and called attention to the policy changes that can help put an end to the country’s increasing and unacceptably high rates of maternal mortality, especially for Black women who die from pregnancy-related causes at a rate more […]
Today marks the start of a significant policy change that will extend lifesaving health coverage to hundreds of thousands of pregnant and postpartum people each year: the American Rescue Plan’s option to extend postpartum coverage from 60 days to one year after the end of pregnancy. CMS announced today that Louisiana was the first state […]
