Senator Reverend Warnock, Georgia Democratic Colleagues Come Together For Black Maternal Health Week

Senator Reverend Warnock, colleagues commemorated Black Maternal Health Week with a compelling video highlighting the shameful maternal mortality statistics in Georgia and the lawmakers’ efforts to combat the crisis

Black Maternal Health Week is April 11 -17 annually

Senator Reverend Warnock, Lawmakers: “Black women in Georgia and throughout our nation, are three times more likely to die from pregnancy than White women. These disparities are rooted in a long history of structural racism […] Together we can overcome these unnecessary and tragic losses”

Senator Warnock and lawmakers commemorate Black Maternal Health Week, watch the video HERE

Washington D.C. — Earlier this week U.S. Senator Reverend Raphael Warnock (D-GA), and members of Georgia’s congressional delegation including U.S. Senator Jon Ossoff (D-GA), U.S. House of Representatives Hank Johnson (GA-04), David Scott (GA-13), Lucy McBath (GA-07), and Nikema Williams (GA-05), partnered with the Centers For Disease Control & Prevention (CDC) to release a video raising awareness for the state’s shameful rates of maternal mortality for Black women and discussing policy solutions to save lives.

“Black women in Georgia and throughout our nation, are three times more likely to die from pregnancy than White women. These disparities are rooted in a long history of structural racism […] Together we can overcome these unnecessary and tragic losses. We can change this reality, together, by recognizing maternal warning signs,” said the lawmakers in the video.

Watch the full video HERE.

Senator Warnock has long been a champion working to combat maternal mortality. Last summer, the Senator introduced a bipartisan bill to support efforts to collect and analyze maternal health data to prevent maternal deaths. The Preventing Maternal Deaths Reauthorization Act, would reauthorize programs to preserve maternal health throughout pregnancy, childbirth, and postpartum and would address disparities in maternal health outcomes through data collection, analysis, and strategies for prevention. He was also a key figure in passing the Maternal Health Quality Improvement Act, a bill that provided federal funding to reduce maternal mortality and improve implicit bias training for providers.

To learn more about Black Maternal Health Week, visit the CDC at cdc.gov/hearher.