By Rep. Abney
When the March of Dimes handed out grades last year for the state of maternal and infant health in the U.S., they looked at Allegheny County’s high preterm birth rate of 10.5% and gave us a poor grade: D+.
That’s the same grade the U.S. received as a whole, and it reflects some difficult truths — that women of color disproportionately experience high rates of preterm births, infant mortality, and maternal deaths.
In Allegheny County, between 2019 and 2023, there were 375 infant deaths, according to state Department of Health data. Of those, 89 were black male babies, the highest total deaths recorded by race and sex.
Statistics for severe maternal morbidity — labor and delivery that significantly impacts a woman’s health — are also sobering. Statewide, 89.3 out of every 10,000 deliveries significantly affected the mother’s health between 2016 and 2022, according to the most recent state data.
Health experts cite several underlying causes for the problem, such as inadequate prenatal care, smoking, substance abuse, heat exposure, and air pollution. Yet they also say many preterm births and maternal and infant deaths are preventable.
That’s right — preventable. According to the state Department of Health, a woman’s overall wellbeing during pregnancy, including physical and mental health, matters significantly. It can have longterm effects on kids, families, and communities.
The Department of Health says changes at any one level of care can make a difference: “the patient, family, provider, facility, system, and/or community level.”
In the state House, we’re trying to make those changes.
We call our plan Momnibus — or Momnibus 2.0, because it’s the second consecutive legislative term we’ve introduced it. It’s a package of bills aimed at improving birthing outcomes, backed by a coalition of health-conscious legislators, including myself.
We had some success with the first Momnibus. Gov. Josh Shapiro last year signed two of the bills into law: One extended Medicaid coverage to doula services, while the other made it easier for new moms to get information about postpartum depression and mental health services.
But a lot of work remains, which is why we have Momnibus 2.0 in the legislative pipeline.
I sponsored one of the bills, H.B. 1212, which would encourage more fathers to get involved in the birthing process. It would direct the Department of Health to conduct a public awareness campaign about how a dad’s involvement can make a big difference in a healthy pregnancy and birth.
The package also includes bills to:
- Require Medicaid and private insurers to cover blood pressure monitors.
- Require state buildings to provide adequate rooms for nursing parents.
- Create a mothers’ treatment court pilot program to provide mothers recovering from substance use disorder with additional support.
- Decriminalize pumping of breast milk in public.
- Designate maternal health deserts to target investments in underserved areas.
These bills would make a difference on a life-or-death issue and, rest assured, my colleagues and I are working to do just that.
State Rep. Aerion Abney represents the 19th Legislative District.
