Sec. 2. Findings and sense of the Senate
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Congress finds the following: Among developed nations, the United States has disturbingly high rates of maternal and infant mortality. The United States published an official maternal mortality rate from vital statistics for the first time since 2007 in 2018. The United States maternal mortality rate of 17.4 per 100,000 live births, is significantly higher than the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (referred to in this section as the OECD ) average of 14.0 in 2017, according to modeling by the World Bank.
The United States infant mortality rate in 2017 was 5.8 per 1,000 live births, while the OECD average was 3.8 per 1,000 live births. In the United States, there are significant maternal mortality and infant mortality inequities. The maternal mortality rate for non-Hispanic Black women in 2018 was 37.1 per 100,000 live births. This rate is more than 2.5 times higher than the maternal mortality rate of 14.7 for non-Hispanic white women and more than 3.1 times higher than the maternal mortality rate of 11.8 for Hispanic women of any race.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data from 2007 through 2016 shows that American Indian/Alaska Native women also have significantly higher rates of pregnancy-related deaths than white, Hispanic, and Asian/Pacific Islander women. American Indian/Alaska Native women had a rate of 29.7 pregnancy-related deaths per 100,000 live births from 2007 through 2016, which is 2.3 times higher than the rate of 12.7 deaths per 100,000 live births for white women during the same time period.
The mortality rate for infants of non-Hispanic Black women is 11.0 per 1,000 live births and 9.2 per 1,000 live births for infants of American Indian or Alaska Native women. This rate is more than 2.3 times higher than the infant mortality rate of non-Hispanic white infants at 4.7 and more than 2.1 times higher than the infant mortality rate of Hispanic infants of any race at 5.1 per 1,000 live births. It is the sense of the Senate that the following should apply: The United States should dramatically reduce maternal and infant mortality, ensure that all infants can grow up healthy and safe, and protect women’s health before, during, and after pregnancy.
Any pregnant woman choosing to have a child should be able to do so safely without regard to income, race, ethnicity, employment status, geographic location, ability, or any other socio-economic factor. United States policy should support women’s health so that women thrive and newborns have the maximum chance for a healthy life. The evidence of serious racial inequities in maternal and infant mortality, especially between Black women and white women demonstrates the persistence of racism and racial bias in our society and health care system.
A 2015 study funded by the National Institute for Biomedical and Bioengineering of the National Institutes of Health found that most health care providers appear to harbor negative implicit biases towards people of color. These biases were found to impact patient-provider interactions, treatment decisions, treatment adherence, and patient health outcomes. Therefore, the programs authorized by this Act should be specifically deployed in ways to counter such inequities. In the next 5 years, the United States should aim to reduce its overall maternal and infant mortality rates such that they are no higher than the OECD average.
The United States should dramatically reduce the maternal mortality and infant mortality inequities between Black and American Indian/Alaskan Native women and white women. By advancing evidence-based policies to improve maternal and infant health outcomes, the United States can work to reduce and eliminate preventable maternal and infant mortality and severe maternal morbidity.