Too many pregnant women, new mothers and infant children are dying in New York and across the country, Gov. Kathy Hochul said Thursday as she announced new programs to tackle what she deemed a “crisis” in health care.
Hochul said she will propose in her State of the State address next week a half-dozen initiatives intended to improve infant and maternal mortality rates in the state.
- Extending paid family leave for prenatal care.
- Allowing pregnant women to access a doula without a referral.
- Reducing the number of unnecessary C-section deliveries.
- Improving counseling available to women suffering from postpartum depression.
- Eliminating certain out-of-pocket expenses for pregnancy care.
- Providing free cribs to families who need them.
These initiatives, taken together, will improve the health of pregnant women, provide for safer deliveries and lead to better outcomes for new mothers and their newborn and infant children, Hochul said during a visit to Wyckoff Heights Medical Center in Brooklyn streamed online.
“Every mother, every family, deserves to have the joy and excitement associated with pregnancy and childbirth, not fear and trepidation, as you bring these little people into the world,” said Hochul, who noted she is the first woman and first mother to serve as New York governor.
A 2022 report from the state Health Department found 41 women died from pregnancy-related causes in 2018, most within six weeks of their pregnancy. More than three-fourths of the deaths were considered preventable.
Black women were five times more likely than white women to die from a pregnancy-related cause and, in nearly half of the cases, discrimination was found to be a contributing factor in the death, the department found.
“Before, during and after childbirth, women are also dying in our country from pregnancy-related causes at higher rates than any other wealthy nation on this planet,” Hochul said Thursday.
The maternal mortality rate for…
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