Latest news with #MomnibusBill
CBS News
07-04-2025
- Health
- CBS News
Tufts University researchers looking to reduce racial disparities in maternal health care
Massachusetts has some of the best health care in the country, but it's far from perfect. Black women in particular experience complications during childbirth two-and-a-half times more often than their white counterparts, and they face a pregnancy-related death rate that's more than three times the rate of white mothers. Researchers at at the Center for Black Maternal Health and Reproductive Justice at Tufts University School Of Medicine are searching for ways to prevent these kinds of tragedies, and they're already seeing results. Like any excited mother-to-be, Shamony Gibson was looking forward to expanding her family. Already a proud mother of one and expecting her second, she and her partner, Omari Maynard, were ready to welcome their son into the world. "We figured this out, you know. We understand what it takes to be able to co-create and build and be a family and you know, so our future felt really bright," Maynard said. Sadly, Gibson died from a blood clot in her lungs as a complication from an unplanned C-section. Just 13 days before her death, Gibson made a video for her unborn child, saying, "I'm excited for you to be born tomorrow." "Didn't know, of course, that that would be the last video that we made together, and that that video would document the first time, and I want to say possibly the last time, that, you know, she had a conversation with her son," Maynard said. Despite his heartbreak, Maynard hopes his loss will lead to change. "If we're going to really shift and help redirect birthing outcomes and really want to see change within this maternal health epidemic, we need to figure out how to tell the stories of all these Shamonys," he said. The MOTHER Lab, a unit within the Center for Black Maternal health and Reproductive Justice, looks at racial disparities in maternal health care. Founder and director Dr. Ndidiamaka N. Amutah-Onukagha says those disparities can have deadly consequences. "Your place of delivery makes a difference in your outcomes. What you have access to, the quality of the physicians, the quality of the resources," she said. "These lapses and biases, frankly, are costing people their lives." In 2023, a state Department of Public Health report revealed the rates of severe maternal morbidity in Massachusetts rose 25% over the last decade. "Putting faces behind statistics, because we all know, like, that Black women are three to four times more likely to die in childbirth than their white counterparts," research assistant Emily Teixeira said. MOTHER Lab's research has already helped implement change in Massachusetts. Last summer, Gov. Maura Healey signed the "Momnibus Bill," which promotes access to midwifery care and out-of-hospital birth options. But Amutah-Onukagha knows there's still work to be done. "It also reinvigorates you for the work because we need to be really clear and really vigilant about not only how Black women, frankly, the health care system is failing all women," she said. Amutah-Onukagha says all of this is easily prevented and that's why they're raising awareness with their Eighth Annual Black Maternal Health Conference this weekend ahead of Black Maternal Health Week next week. More information can be found at .
CBS News
05-04-2025
- Health
- CBS News
MOTHER Lab at Tufts University aims to address racial disparities in maternal health care
Massachusetts has some of the best health care in the country, but it's far from perfect. Black women in particular experience complications during childbirth two-and-a-half times more often than their White counterparts, and they face a pregnancy-related death rate that's more than three times the rate of White mothers. Researchers at MOTHER Lab at Tufts University School Of Medicine are searching for ways to prevent these kinds of tragedies, and they're already seeing results. Like any excited mother-to-be, Shamony Gibson was looking forward to expanding her family. Already a proud mother of one and expecting her second, she and her partner, Omari Maynard, were ready to welcome their son into the world. "We figured this out, you know. We understand what it takes to be able to co-create and build and be a family and you know, so our future felt really bright," Maynard said. Sadly, Gibson died from a blood clot in her lungs as a complication from an unplanned C-section. Just 13 days before her death, Gibson made a video for her unborn child, saying, "I'm excited for you to be born tomorrow." "Didn't know, of course, that that would be the last video that we made together, and that that video would document the first time, and I want to say possibly the last time, that, you know, she had a conversation with her son," Maynard said. Despite his heartbreak, Maynard hopes his loss will lead to change. "If we're going to really shift and help redirect birthing outcomes and really want to see change within this maternal health epidemic, we need to figure out how to tell the stories of all these Shamonys," he said. The MOTHER Lab looks at racial disparities in maternal health care, which founder and director Dr. Ndidiamaka N. Amutah-Onukagha says can have deadly consequences. "Your place of delivery makes a difference in your outcomes. What you have access to, the quality of the physicians, the quality of the resources," she said. "These lapses and biases, frankly, are costing people their lives." In 2023, a state Department of Public Health report revealed the rates of severe maternal morbidity in Massachusetts rose 25% over the last decade. "Putting faces behind statistics, because we all know, like, that Black women are three to four times more likely to die in childbirth than their white counterparts," research assistant Emily Teixeira said. MOTHER Lab's research has already helped implement change in Massachusetts. Last summer, Gov. Maura Healey signed the "Momnibus Bill," which promotes access to midwifery care and out-of-hospital birth options. But Amutah-Onukagha knows there's still work to be done. "It also reinvigorates you for the work because we need to be really clear and really vigilant about not only how Black women– frankly, the health care system is failing all women," she said. Amutah-Onukagha says all of this is easily prevented and that's why they're raising awareness with their Eighth Annual Black Maternal Health Conference this weekend ahead of Black Maternal Health Week next week. More information can be found at .
Yahoo
18-02-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Kitzhaber, Kulongoski lend voice to Momnibus Bill
SALEM, Ore. (KOIN) — A push to get state funding to help the estimated quarter-million pre-school children and their families with everything from child care to early education got a big boost at the Capitol Monday from community leaders and former Oregon governors. The nonprofit brought together several groups that will lobby lawmakers to put more money into health care, including mental health support, early childhood education and special education for little ones. Momnibus Bill in Oregon aims to help pregnant families, kids Among those lobbying for the money were former Oregon governors John Kitzhaber, 77, and 84-year-old Ted Kulongoski. Their message is that by helping young families now bigger problems will be avoided later. Kitzhaber, who is a doctor, said it's not a criticism of education or healthcare but rather its lack of investment in preventing problems that those systems deal with. 'The legislature has a chance to fund acute crises rather than investments that can prevent those crises in the first place,' Kitzhaber said. 'Listen to the loud and powerful voices of the education lobby and the healthcare lobby over the tens of thousands of voices of children whose futures are being unnecessarily compromised.' They plan to push for a bill by Portland lawmaker and pediatrician Lisa Reynolds — known as the — that would fund programs to help with many problems some families face during pregnancy and a child's first year of life, from stable housing to mental illness. A big push in the Oregon legislature is from early childhood advocates to get money for subsidized child care. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
