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In February 2019, California Senator Holly Mitchell introduced SB464, The California Dignity in Pregnancy and Childbirth Act, for consideration in the state legislature. By October 7th, California Governor Gavin Newsom signed it into law.
According to the U.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention, “The risk of pregnancy-related deaths for [B]lack women is 3 to 4 times higher than those of white women.”
“The bottom line is that too many women are dying largely-preventable deaths associated with their pregnancy,” Dr. Anne Schuchat, principal deputy director of the C.D.C. told the New York Times. “We have the means to identify and close gaps in the care they receive… we can and should do more.”
What is causing the disturbing trend of Black women dying during childbirth - or within a year after? And how is California planning to stop it? Severe bleeding and embolisms were the leading causes of death, followed by high blood pressure, infection and exasperated heart conditions.
What all women deserve is the watchful care of trained professionals who can spot warning signs early and intervene. But those caring for Black mothers, consciously or not, allow prejudice to interfere with their due diligence - and they do so in ways the data shows they’re not doing in cases involving white mothers.
SB464 fights for greater awareness of personal bias as OB/GYN healthcare professionals diagnose and treat Black mothers. It also directs the state health department to collect valuable data that will hopefully expose why the system continues to fail Black women more than any other racial group.
The maternal mortality gap can’t be explained away by the conclusion that the affected Black women lack financial means or the right amount of education. Access to premium care was not an issue for wealthy celebrities like Beyoncé and Serena Williams, yet both shared in Vogue magazine interviews how complications during and after giving birth were nearly ignored altogether.
And it’s not just California taking steps to protect Black women. Senators Kamala Harris and Cory Booker, and Representative Ayanna Pressley, all teamed up to introduce a similar piece of legislation called the Maximizing Outcomes for Moms through Medicaid Improvement and Enhancement of Services (MOMMIES) Act, which aims to “improve Medicaid and the Children's Health Insurance Program for low-income mothers” and extend coverage to mothers in the crucial postpartum months.
What these pieces of legislation reinforce is that Black mothers deserve healthy, safe pregnancies and birthing experiences regardless of their socioeconomic status, and it is lawmakers' responsibility to direct resources to solutions that can deliver just that.