MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN – TODAY, Friday, June 4, 2021, U.S. Senator Tammy Baldwin will host a roundtable conversation with mothers, public health stakeholders, and community leaders on the need to reverse the trend of rising maternal mortality rates, close health disparities that put Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) communities and their kids at greater risk of adverse health outcomes, and improve maternal health outcomes in Wisconsin. 

In the last 25 years, while pregnancy-related mortality ratios fell 44 percent around the world, the American maternal mortality rate increased: moms are now more likely to die from pregnancy-related causes in the United States than in any other high-income country in the world. The situation is even worse for Black women, who are three to four times more likely to die from giving birth than their white counterparts.

In February, Baldwin introduced the Perinatal Workforce Act with Congresswoman Gwen Moore to improve access to maternity care, and grow and diversify the perinatal health workforce. Last month, Senator Baldwin worked to reintroduce the Maximizing Outcomes for Moms through Medicaid Improvement and Enhancement of Services (MOMMIES) Act that would extend and expand Medicaid coverage for pregnant and postpartum women from 60 days following pregnancy to a full year after childbirth; ensure that all pregnant and postpartum women have full Medicaid coverage rather than coverage that can be limited to pregnancy-related services; and increase access to primary care providers and reproductive health providers.

Senator Baldwin will be joined by State Representative David Bowen and representatives from Outreach Community Health Center, United Way of Greater Milwaukee & Waukesha County, African American Breastfeeding Network, WeRISE, the UW School of Medicine and Public Health, Black Child Development Institute, City of Milwaukee Health Department, and Professional Women’s Network for Service, Inc.

TODAY, Friday, June 4, 2021

10:30 AM CT

*Media availability following roundtable discussion.

*Members of the media encouraged to wear masks and socially distance throughout the visit.

Outreach Community Health Center

210 W. Capitol Drive

Milwaukee, WI 53212

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