Kaine, McClellan discuss racial inequality within maternal health

In 2018, the maternal mortality rate was more than two and a half times higher for Black mothers, 2.3 times higher for Hispanic Black mothers, and twice as high for Native American mothers than it was for white mothers.

On Wednesday afternoon, U.S. Senator Tim Kaine (D-VA) and Virginia State Senator Jennifer McClellan were joined by teachers and medical professionals from the Richmond area for a discussion about racial inequality within maternal health.

This came not long after Kaine, along with Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) introduced a bill called the Mothers and Newborns Success Act, which is intended to address the disparities in maternal health by improving access to obstetric care in disadvantaged communities, increasing access to telehealth, establishing a public and healthcare provider awareness campaign for maternal health warning signs and the importance of vaccinations for mothers and children, supporting data collection and improving support for women's health in the pregnancy, neonatal and postpartum stages, among other goals.

“Certainly one of the causes of the disparity is that people discount the experiences of African American women,” Kaine said. “If they have a complaint or concern or something that comes up during a pregnancy, they’re more likely to be told ‘go away and call me if it gets worse’ and not really be given care than if a Caucasian woman raises the same complaints.”

One of the topics discussed during the online meeting was postpartum care. Kaine’s bill takes into account the importance of care not only before and during a child’s birth, but after as well. Many complications can occur after a woman gives birth, and it is important for them to get the proper care during the “fourth trimester” as opposed to just during the pregnancy and childbirth stages, he said.

Given COVID-19, going to in-person doctors’ appointments on a regular basis is not viable for everyone, and since the beginning of the pandemic, expecting mothers have been placed on the list of high-risk groups. Continuing to expand telehealth and broadband, while also keeping a high rate of reimbursement for telehealth appointments, are critical steps to ensure that all pregnant women receive the medical attention they need, Kaine said.

Back in 2018, Kaine teamed up with Senator Kamala Harris (D-CA) on the Maternal Care Access and Reducing Emergencies (CARE) Act, another bill intended to reduce racial inequality by creating implicit bias training grants and a pregnancy medical home demonstration project – the latter of which would assist states in implementing PMH programs to provide integrated health care services in order to minimize complications.

It was the consensus during the meeting that in order for women of every race to be treated equally in a medical facility, it is important for those medical facilities to be diverse. Additionally, participants agreed, legislation to reduce maternal mortality should enjoy bipartisan support.

“One of the things I don’t like about Congress is that there is a massive divide between pro-life and pro-choice legislators,” Kaine said. “And I’m often looking for something that’s like ‘Now this is something that any pro-life or pro-choice legislator should be able to be on the same page about, a child born should have the maximum chance of life success’ and we ought to be able to do something that could bring folks together.”