Senate Co-Sponsorship Memoranda

In the near future I will be introducing a resolution to designate January 23, 2025 as “Maternal Health Awareness Day” in Pennsylvania. This recognition is an important step in raising awareness about the critical issues surrounding maternal health and promoting the well-being of mothers and infants in our state. 

 

Maternal health is a matter of great concern in Pennsylvania and across the nation. Despite advances in medical sciences and healthcare services, maternal mortality rates, and complications during pregnancy and childbirth remain significant challenges.  

 

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), a pregnancy-related death is the death of a woman while pregnant or within one year of the end of a pregnancy – regardless of the outcome, duration, or site of the pregnancy – from any cause related to or aggravated by the pregnancy or its management. 

 

In 2021 the US maternal mortality rate was 32.9 deaths per 100, 000 live births compared with a rate of 23.8 in 2020 and 20.1 in 2019. In Pennsylvania, the overall pregnancy-associated mortality rate was reported as 82 deaths per 100,000 live births in 2022. 

 

Black women and birthing people are two times more likely to experience pregnancy related mortality in Pennsylvania at 163 deaths per 100,000 live births. They are two to three times more likely to experience pregnancy-related mortality nationally. 

 

This resolution will continue to bring awareness to the issues related to maternal health, mortality, and morbidity in Pennsylvania. It will also promote the initiatives to reduce maternal mortality in our state. 

 

Please join me in cosponsoring this important resolution to highlight the importance of addressing these issues and taking concrete steps towards improving maternal health outcomes in the Commonwealth.