Senator Kirsten Gillibrand's office issued the following earlier this week:
December, 23, 2019
Senator Gillibrand Urged Appropriations Leaders to Direct Funding to Address the Maternal Mortality and Postpartum Depression Crises in New York and Across the Country
Washington, DC – U.S.
Senator Kirsten Gillibrand today announced that the bipartisan FY 2020
appropriations package includes $22 million in funding to address the
maternal mortality and postpartum depression crises in New York and
across the country. Specifically, the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention (CDC) was awarded $12 million to support state-run Maternal
Mortality Review Committees. These committees are comprised
of local public health experts who study maternal deaths to better
understand their causes, identify solutions to prevent further deaths,
and improve the quality of maternity care. The package also includes a key provision from Gillibrand’s Modernizing Obstetric Medicine Standards (MOMS) Act that provides $5
million of funding for the Alliance for Innovation on Maternal Health
(AIM) program to implement evidence-based toolkits to improve maternal
outcomes. Gillibrand’s request for $5 million for the Health Resources
and Services Administration (HRSA) program for the Screening and
Treatment for Maternal Depression was also included in the final FY20
appropriations bill.
“Maternal mortality in our country is an epidemic. We
must do everything in our power to address the high and rising rates of
maternal deaths and complications throughout pregnancy and childbirth,”
said Senator Gillibrand. “I am proud
to have fought for this important funding in the just-passed
appropriations bill to support states as they work to combat this
epidemic by investigating maternal deaths. I am especially pleased that
this legislation includes a critical provision from my bill, the MOMS
Act, to fund and expand the AIM program to help implement
evidenced-based standards to improve maternal health care for all women.
We must do more, and I will continue supporting women across the
country to ensure they are safe before, during, and after they give
birth.”
Senator Gillibrand is a champion for the
health and rights of mothers and their families. Earlier this year, she
reintroduced her Modernizing Obstetric Medicine Standards (MOMS) Act, which would help reduce
maternal deaths and complications in the United States by providing
funding to states and hospitals to develop and implement standardized
maternal safety best practices, in conjunction with the Department of
Health and Human Services (HHS), to prevent and respond to complications
occurring before, during, and after childbirth.
The maternal mortality rate in the United
States has been increasing with an increase in maternal deaths of 26
percent between 2000 and 2014. Each year it is estimated that there are
at least 50,000 women who experience a complication during childbirth,
and according to the CDC, an estimated 60 percent of these deaths and
complications are preventable. Additionally, more black women die from
pregnancy-related complications in the United States than in any other
developed nation. An NPR and ProPublica report
found that for every woman who dies in childbirth in the United States,
there are 70 women who nearly die. Postpartum depression (PPD) affects 1
in 9 women in the United States. PPD can lead to maternal suicide which
is a greater cause of maternal mortality than hemorrhaging or
hypertension. PPD is treatable with behavioral health interventions
and/or pharmacologic therapy, but nearly 60 percent of women with
symptoms currently do not receive a diagnosis and 50 percent with a
diagnosis do not receive any treatment.
Maternal Mortality Review Committees
(MMRCs) are state-led committees comprised of local public health
professionals and experts who review maternal deaths to better
understand their causes and help identify solutions to prevent further
deaths and improve the quality of maternity care. CDC funding for these
committees provides technical assistance and data collection. The
Alliance for Innovation on Maternal Health (AIM) is a program that works
with states and hospital systems to implement evidence-based bundles on
a range of important maternal safety topics including obstetric
hemorrhage, severe hypertension in pregnancy, maternal mental health,
obstetric care for women with opioid use disorder, and education of
peripartum racial and ethnic disparities.
