Although the United States spends more on health care than any other country, two women die every day from complications of pregnancy.  Women of color and low-income women are disproportionately affected.  African American women are four times more likely to die of pregnancy related causes than white women, while the risk of maternal death for low-income women is twice as high as women from more affluent communities. 

Over one-third of maternal deaths occur in women between the ages of 29-38, some of the most economically productive years in a woman’s life. In families suffering the loss of their mother, children often have lower educational achievement and the family as a whole experiences less economic success. Decisions to improve maternal health benefit not only women and families, but countries and the world as a whole.

Sponsoring and bringing to committee a Senate companion bill to the Maternal Health Accountability Act pending before the House of Representatives is a necessary step toward improving maternal health care in the United States.  State review boards should be established to review pregnancy-related deaths and a data collection protocol should be implemented to investigate and report all maternal deaths.   The creation of research and pilot programs are essential in assessing factors that contribute to maternal mortality and eliminating disparity in maternal health care. 

 I urge you to introduce companion legislation to the Maternal Health Accountability Act of 2011 (H.R. 894) in the United States Senate.