Texas lawmakers hope to advance a series of bills addressing maternal and postpartum health care when they return to Austin on Tuesday.
Some of these bills, like doula services and more up-to-date maternal mortality data, had support during the last legislative session in 2021 but didn鈥檛 get signed into law. State Rep. Shawn Thierry, D-Houston, said she feels cautiously optimistic this session.
鈥淭his is an issue that we have to continue to address,鈥� Thierry said. 鈥淚 hope people don鈥檛 take their eyes off the prize and say we鈥檝e already solved maternal mortality and morbidity in Texas 鈥� we absolutely have not.鈥�
Thierry has introduced a number of bills this session seeking to address the high rates of maternal mortality in Texas, including , which would create a maternal mortality and morbidity data registry.
Other bills would require cultural competency education for physicians ( and ), and the creation of a pilot program for doula services to be covered by Medicaid ().
鈥淗ealthy moms equal healthy babies,鈥� Thierry said. 鈥淩educing maternal mortality is going to reduce infant mortality. All of the measures are directly correlated to improving the health and well-being of babies, and so the issues go hand in hand.鈥�
Another bill recommends adding more community representatives to the . The committee鈥檚 , released in December, showed continued racial disparities in maternal mortality in Texas, where .
鈥淏lack people should not just be a footnote in the report, we are the report,鈥� Thierry said.
The contributing factors for maternal mortality are complex:
鈥淚t鈥檚 not just one single event that causes this tragic death, it鈥檚 a whole confluence of events,鈥� said Jen Biundo, senior director of policy and research for Healthy Futures of Texas. 鈥淚t really shows the need for structural change in a number of areas.鈥�
Extending pregnancy Medicaid coverage
One way to address these disparities, and lower maternal mortality rates overall is after giving birth, Biundo said.
Texas lawmakers passed a bill in 2021 , but current coverage only extends . Multiple bills proposing an extension to a year have also been introduced this session.
鈥淎 large number of pregnancy-related deaths occur several months after delivery, related to mental health like postpartum depression, and so there鈥檚 a real need to continue that medical coverage,鈥� Biundo said.
Biundo feels hopeful about expanding pregnancy Medicaid coverage, but 鈥渋t鈥檚 always a little bit wait and see in the legislature.鈥�
鈥淵ou don鈥檛 know what you鈥檒l get until the session gavel鈥檚 in,鈥� she said.
Other health policy issues, like , access to , and , are also on deck for the 2023 legislative session.
The session begins Tuesday.
Got a tip? Email Elena Rivera at [email protected]. You can follow Elena on Twitter .
KERA News is made possible through the generosity of our members. If you find this reporting valuable, consider Thank you.
Copyright 2023 KERA. To see more, visit .
