Washington Congresswoman Jaime Herrera Beutler, R-Camas, has helped introduce a bipartisan bill called Preventing Maternal Deaths Act into the House of Representatives.
The bill is designed to help save women’s lives and improve the quality of health care and outcomes for mothers and babies.
The legislation would help states establish or support maternal mortality review committees to examine pregnancy-related deaths and identify ways to reduce them, a press release from Herrera Beutler’s office said.
It would also provide data to address disparities in maternal health outcomes and identify solutions to improve health care quality for mothers.
“The U.S. is seeing a rise in pregnancy-related deaths. For the sake of so many mothers and babies, we have to do better,” Herrera Beutler said in the release.
The U.S. is ranked 50th globally for its maternal mortality rate. Unlike other industrialized countries, maternal deaths are on the rise, the release said. Maternal mortality rates per 100,000 live births doubled to 35.8 in 2014 from 17.7 in 2000.
A variety of factors play into these deaths, the release said, ranging from complications such as gestational diabetes and obstetric hemorrhaging to suicide and overdose.
Disparities in maternal health care have not improved in more than 20 years, the release said. Black women are three to four times more likely to die of pregnancy-related complications than white women, the release said. In 2011, the maternal mortality ratio for non-Hispanic white women was 12.5 deaths per 100,000 births compared with 42.8 deaths per 100,000 for non-Hispanic black women, the release said.
