The United States has the highest rate of maternal mortality among wealthy nations, and the crisis is not affecting all women equally. Black women die from pregnancy-related causes at three times the rate of White women. This disparity—rooted in decades of medical racism, structural inequality, and a health system that has consistently failed Black patients—persists regardless of income or education.
The factors driving maternal mortality are interconnected and wide-ranging. Social determinants of health, including job insecurity, housing instability, and limited access to quality care, all shape maternal outcomes. Abortion restrictions also reduce access to obstetric care and force medical professionals out of states where restrictions make it impossible to provide safe, evidence-based care. Addressing maternal mortality requires confronting both the systemic racism embedded in the medical system and the policy decisions that continue to put pregnant people’s lives at risk.
Featured Policy Solutions
Support the diversification of an expanded health care industry of professionals—including midwives and doulas—educated on addressing and mitigating the Black maternal health crisis.
Policymakers should promote the diversification of the health care workforce and medical students by promoting changes to nursing and medical school admissions that include holistic views of candidates and consider lived experiences. Policymakers should invest in and support historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs), which are essential to the graduation of Black doctors and medical professionals. Policymakers should also promote expanded and flexible licensure for midwives and doulas, and increase Medicare coverage and reimbursement rates for their services.
Prioritize health care accessibility for birthing people, particularly in rural areas.
Policymakers should direct federal funding to underserved regions and under-resourced hospitals, with particular consideration to maternity care deserts in rural regions. By directing federal funding to rural hospitals, policymakers can prevent closures of obstetrics and maternity wards, eliminate maternity care deserts, and increase the number of maternity care providers in rural federally qualified health centers, including Health Resources and Services Administration Health Center Program (HCP) grantees.
Invest in better data collection and utilization for accountability.
Policymakers must prioritize the improvement of data collection processes and quality measures to adequately assess and address the maternal health crisis. Policymakers should further support training opportunities to standardized definitions and ensure proper completion of death certificates and reporting, and enact legislation to facilitate data sharing among federal agencies, state bodies, and research institutions.
