WHEREAS, The United States ranks highest among industrialized nations in maternal mortality; and

WHEREAS, More than 700 women die each year in the United States as a result of pregnancy or delivery complications, and more than one-half of these deaths are preventable; and

WHEREAS, While the national maternal mortality rate continues to rise, California continues to work diligently and successfully to reverse this alarming trend; and

WHEREAS, The California Maternal Quality Care Collaborative (CMQCC), a multistakeholder organization committed to ending preventable morbidity, mortality, and racial disparities in California maternity care, was founded in 2006 at Stanford University School of Medicine, in coordination with the California Pregnancy-Associated Mortality Review (CA-PAMR) and the Public Health Institute, in response to rising maternal mortality and morbidity rates; and

WHEREAS, CMQCC uses research, quality improvement toolkits, statewide outreach collaboratives, and its innovative Maternal Data Center to improve health outcomes for mothers and infants; and

WHEREAS, Since the inception of CMQCC and CA-PAMR, California has recorded a maternal mortality decline by 55 percent from 2006 to 2013, inclusive, and has successfully decreased the maternal mortality rate to seven deaths per 100,000 live births; and

WHEREAS, Californias pregnancy-related mortality ratio (PRMR) began to rise gradually in 2013 and peaked in 2018 at 16.1 deaths per 100,000 live births, but fell to a rate of 12.8 in 2019, and the California PRMR was consistently lower than the United States PRMR from 2011 through 2017; and

WHEREAS, Cardiovascular disease continued to be the leading cause of pregnancy-related deaths, followed by hemorrhage, sepsis or infection, thrombotic pulmonary embolism, and amniotic fluid embolism from 2017 to 2019, inclusive; and

WHEREAS, Chronic health conditions increase the risk of pregnancy complications, adverse birth outcomes, and pregnancy-related mortality because the physical demands that pregnancy places on the bodys systems can exacerbate existing health conditions; and

WHEREAS, A womans maternal mental health condition can also be a factor in maternal mortality, which makes recent efforts to bring greater awareness to maternal mental health, ensure more women are screened and treated for postpartum depression or psychosis, and ensure more women remain covered by health insurance upon diagnosis essential; and

WHEREAS, Improved screening alone can reduce the severity of postpartum depression, which makes the efforts of obstetric providers, including implementing more aggressive screening techniques and making strides to further recognize and, therefore, treat maternal mental health conditions immensely valuable; and

WHEREAS, While California has set an example for the rest of the country and has made progress to reduce maternal mortality through investment in maternal health programs, strong leadership and engagement of the maternity care community, and targeted hospital quality improvement, more needs to be done to narrow racial and ethnic disparities, especially with Black women, who account for only 5 percent of pregnancies in California but represent 21 percent of pregnancy-related deaths and whose pregnancy-related mortality ratio is three to four times greater than the mortality ratios for women of other racial or ethnic groups, including White, Hispanic, and Asian and Pacific Islander; and

WHEREAS, Since 2012, approximately 60 hospitals have ceased labor and delivery services, with nearly 60 percent of these closures occurring in the last three years, which not only limits options for women to have safe childbirth, but also underscores the urgent need for coordinated care across birthing settings, making it critically important to foster collaboration among hospitals, birthing centers, and community providers, which would enable California to address the systemic inequities that disproportionately affect marginalized communities and ensure equitable access to safe and supportive maternity care for all; and

WHEREAS, The State Department of Public Health must continue its surveillance to bring heightened awareness to maternal health and lower maternal deaths; and

WHEREAS, California must maintain its efforts to maximize health prior to pregnancy, including, but not limited to, preventing smoking, improving fitness, reducing sexually transmitted diseases, and promoting positive relationships; and

WHEREAS, California must continue to address the postpartum needs of women through such efforts as postpartum visits and interconception care, breastfeeding support, and screening for postpartum depression; and

WHEREAS, California should continue to promote positive birth outcomes for all women through actions including maternity care quality improvement and home visiting for vulnerable pregnant women, providing additional support for Black women, and increasing culturally and linguistically relevant public awareness about maternal mental health risk factors, signs, symptoms, treatment, and recovery; and

WHEREAS, California should maintain its efforts to improve the coordination of care between obstetrics and psychiatry regarding mental health treatment, as needed, and to continue advancements for improved screening for mental health conditions during and after pregnancy, as well as screening for substance use, adverse childhood experiences, medical diagnoses, including infectious disease, and intimate partner violence; and

WHEREAS, California should increase its efforts to mitigate the rise in labor and delivery unit closures and to improve access to maternity services; and

WHEREAS, The Legislature seeks to bring awareness to maternal health and continue its work to provide positive outcomes for both the mother and the infant; now, therefore, be it

Resolved by the Senate of the State of California, the Assembly thereof concurring, That the Legislature proclaims January 23, 2025, as Maternal Health Awareness Day to draw attention to the efforts that have improved maternal health in California and to highlight the need for continued improvement of maternal health for all women; and be it further

Resolved, That the Secretary of the Senate transmit copies of this resolution to the author for appropriate distribution.

SCR 9: Maternal Health Awareness Day.

Current Status:

Senate Floor

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