Our July 15, 2020 report outlines six key policy recommendations to ensure equitable, evidence-based, system-level policy reforms for achieving maternal health equity:

1. Form a COVID-19 Emergency Maternal Equity Task Force

2. Collect Data on Pregnant and Birthing People, Race/Ethnicity, and COVID-19

3. Ensure Consistency in Hospital Perinatal Policies, Including Support People and Mother-Infant Separation

4. Ensure Immediate Access to Ongoing Mental Health Care for Birthing People

5. Ensure Ongoing Comprehensive Medicaid Coverage for Birthing People

6. Expand Midwifery Care and Community Birth Options

Read the report.

Read our statement here.

Thank you to the hundreds who joined us on June 3 for an important community conversation about the needs of birthing people during COVID-19 in the Commonwealth.

On June 3, 2020, hundreds gathered for a virtual Massachusetts COVID-19 Maternal Health Equity Town Hall hosted by Senator Elizabeth Warren, Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley, Congresswoman Katherine Clark, and state legislators Representative Kay Khan, Representative Liz Miranda and Senator Becca Rausch, and the MA Covid-19 Maternal Equity Coalition (formerly MA Covid-19 Perinatal Coalition) with special guests Senate President Karen Spilka and Senator Joan Lovely. Pregnant and postpartum mothers, midwives, nurses, and researchers shared their powerful stories describing their experiences and challenges for maternal health and well-being during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Massachusetts -​ On June 3, 2020 at 3 pm, ​Senator Elizabeth Warren, Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley, Representative Kay Khan, Representative Liz Miranda, Senator Becca Rausch and the Massachusetts COVID-19 Perinatal Coalition (MCPC)​ invite all stakeholders including pregnant and birthing people to join us in a discussion of priority issues for moms and birthing people during COVID-19. Register ​here​ to receive the Zoom link to attend.

The COVID-19 crisis has strained our hospitals and health care system beyond capacity, shining a light on our already-failing maternity care system and exacerbating existing maternal health inequities in the Commonwealth. Prior to the pandemic, maternal mortality and severe maternal morbidities had been rising for years in Massachusetts -- with persistent racial and geographic disparities -- due to system failures and pervasive racism. During the pandemic, we have seen concerning trends: a disproportionate burden of COVID-19 being born by black and brown communities, variation in hospital policies on labor support and mom and baby separation, lack of sufficient personal protective equipment and testing availability for health care providers, increases in c-sections and forceps delivery, diminished access to anesthesia, and high levels of anxiety and depression.

PDF version of Press Release.