SR0063 101ST GENERAL ASSEMBLY

SR0063 LRB101 08448 ALS 53522 r

SENATE RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, African American women in the United States experience maternal-related deaths at three to four times the rate of non-Hispanic white women, according to the Mothers and Offspring Mortality and Morbidity Awareness Act, introduced by U.S. Representative Robin Kelly of Illinois in May of 2018; and

WHEREAS, In Illinois, Non-Hispanic black women are six times as likely to die of a pregnancy-related condition as non-Hispanic white women, and 72 percent of the pregnancy-related deaths and 93 percent of violent pregnancy-related deaths were deemed preventable by review committees; and

WHEREAS, The United States has not been able to submit a formal maternal mortality rate to international data repositories since 2007; in order to be able to calculate a formal maternal mortality rate, maternal mortality-related data must be streamlined at the State level and extrapolated to the federal level; and

WHEREAS, Leaders in maternal wellness highly recommend that maternal deaths be investigated at the State level first; and

WHEREAS, Hemorrhage, infection, and hypertensive disorders of pregnancy are among the top common causes of pregnancy-related deaths in Illinois; and

WHEREAS, The State of California has established Maternal Mortality Review Committees to determine the most prevalent causes of maternal mortality and has recorded and shared data with providers and researchers, who have developed and implemented safety bundles and care protocols related to preeclampsia, maternal hemorrhage, and other prevalent causes of maternal mortality; and

WHEREAS, The Illinois Department of Public Health currently works with the Maternal Mortality Review Committee and the Maternal Mortality Review Committee for Violent deaths to review cases of maternal death and to develop statewide recommendations to prevent future maternal deaths; and

WHEREAS, In the State of California, state-based maternal quality collaborative organizations have formed obstetrical protocols, tool kits, and other resources to improve system care and response as they relate to maternal complications and warning signs for conditions, including maternal hemorrhage, hypertension, and preeclampsia; and

WHEREAS, Illinois has begun developing protocols and resources to address common causes of maternal mortality in the State, such as implementing new training material regarding hemorrhages through the Obstetric Hemorrhage Education Project (OBHEP) in 2016; and

WHEREAS, The CDC reports that more than half of all maternal deaths occur in the immediate postpartum period, which is 42 days to a full year after delivery; yet, for pregnant women, Medicaid coverage lapses at the end of the month on which the 60th postpartum day lands; and

WHEREAS, Expanding Medicaid and CHIP coverage for pregnant and postpartum women has been a part of improving federal efforts for the prevention of maternal mortality; and

WHEREAS, Racism is deeply ingrained in the United States systems, including in health care delivery systems between patients and providers, often resulting in disparate treatment of pain, irreverence to cultural norms with respect to health, and dismissiveness; however, the provider pool is not primed with many people of color, nor are providers consistently required to undergo implicit bias, cultural competency, or empathy training on a consistent, on-going basis; and

WHEREAS, There have been efforts to address implicit bias and cultural competency at the federal level by awarding cooperative agreements for the establishment or support of regional centers of excellence addressing implicit bias and cultural competency in patient-provider interactions for the purpose of enhancing and improving how health care professionals are educated in implicit bias and delivering culturally competent health care; and

WHEREAS, The State of Illinois recognizes the importance of investigating and addressing maternal mortality issues in the State; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE ONE HUNDRED FIRST GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we urge the General Assembly to continue to investigate and identify areas in which the State can improve with respect to the prevention of maternal mortality, especially among vulnerable populations.