A bill called H.R.3305 aka Black Maternal Health Momnibus Act was recently introduced in 2023. This proposed bill aims to lower mothers’ and babies’ morbidity and mortality rates, especially in the Black community and other vulnerable communities. This bill is complex and contains many sections addressing all the areas of perinatal care including data collection, funding for grants related to the reduction of racism in the medical field, grants to diversify the workforce, integration of Telehealth models in maternal care services, funding to provide food and necessities to mom and baby in areas known as “food deserts”, creating model programs for the care of incarcerated pregnant women, and much more (H.R.3305, 118th Congress, 2023). This bill is to address maternal health injustices of vulnerable populations.
The bill includes plans to diversify the perinatal workforce as this crisis is driven by unconscious bias. According to a survey of white medical students conducted in 2016, nearly half believed that black patients had thicker skin and less sensitive nerve endings. According to another study conducted in 2020, black mothers and babies are more likely to live if cared for by a black physician (Suliman, 2021). According to the CDC, Black women are three times more likely to die of (mostly preventable) pregnancy-related complications than their white counterparts due to systemic racism in the medical field (The Worsening U.S. Maternal Health Crisis in Three Graphs, 2022).
Another vulnerable population considered in this bill is pregnant incarcerated women. Pregnancies in prison are complicated by poor nutrition, possible mental illness, and lack of prenatal care as the prison system was originally designed for men (Friedman et al., 2020). The use of restraints and shackling of pregnant women is also addressed in this bill. Complications of restraints in pregnancy include increased risk of blood clots, interference with medical assessments during obstetric emergencies, and not to mention added physical discomfort. Twenty-two states have legislation restricting the use of restraints in pregnancy while other states simply restrict them during active labor (Friedman et al., 2020).
As mentioned before, this bill is complex and addresses many issues related to unjust perinatal care. At this time, the social determinants of adequate perinatal care in the U.S. are race and socioeconomic status. This proposed bill, if passed, will hopefully bring more justice and equality to the current disparity.
References
Black Maternal Health Momnibus Act. (2023, May 15). https://www.congress.gov/bill/118th-congress/house-bill/3305/text?s=6&r=5&q=%7B%22search%22%3A%5B%22maternal+health%22%5D%7DLinks to an external site.
Friedman, S. H., Kaempf, A., & Kauffman, S. (2020, May 1). The Realities of Pregnancy and Mothering While Incarcerated. Journal of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law. https://doi.org/10.29158/JAAPL.003924-20
Suliman, T. (2021, May 17). Black Maternal Mortality: ‘It’s not Race, it’s Racism.’ Johns Hopkins Center for Communication Programs. https://ccp.jhu.edu/2021/05/17/maternal-mortality-black-mamas-race-momnibus/
The Worsening U.S. Maternal Health Crisis in Three Graphs. (2022, March 2). The Worsening U.S. Maternal Health Crisis in Three Graphs. https://tcf.org/content/commentary/worsening-u-s-maternal-health-crisis-three-graphs/
