“Though the transition from home to the hospital was made in the name of safety, it dramatically increased maternal mortality rates. That was ‘due to poor practitioner training, excessive interventions, and the failure to implement aseptic techniques,’ says Carol Sakala , who leads maternal health and maternity care programming at the National Partnership for Women &Families, a non-profit, non-partisan advocacy organization.”
“Medicaid covers over 40 percent of births in the United States, and an even higher percentage in rural areas. According to an analysis from the National Partnership for Women & Families, a nonprofit advocacy organization, “144 rural hospitals across the country with labor and delivery units are at risk of closure or severe service cutbacks” based on the Medicaid cuts outlined in the bill. That’s in addition to the over 100 rural labor and delivery units that have closed or plan to close since 2020.”
“The historically brutal Medicaid cuts—a staggering $930 billion slashed from the program over the next decade—could force as many as 144 rural hospitals around the US to close their labor-and-delivery units or drastically scale back services, a new analysis by the National Partnership for Women & Families projects. That could have potentially catastrophic consequences for maternal and infant health. ‘When somebody is in labor or having a pregnancy-related emergency, every second counts,’ says Rolonda Donelson, lead author of the analysis. ‘And with these hospital closures, people are going to have to travel further and further to get the help that they need.’”
When a health crisis or emergency arises, and when minutes and seconds can be the difference between life or death, it is critical to ensure that patients receive the care that they need quickly and without hesitation. This week, the Trump Administration made this task harder by revoking guidance clarifying that the Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act (EMTALA) applies in cases where abortion care is necessary to stabilize a patient, even when there is a state abortion ban in place.
“’It’s the largest proposed cut to Medicaid in its 60-year history,’ said Sarah Coombs, the director for health system transformation at the National Partnership for Women and Families, a nonprofit dedicated to promoting reproductive health and rights. ‘If this bill passes, the effects are so pervasive I think it will be significantly hard to come back from it.'”
“Moreover, as Rolonda Donelson powerfully observed in a recent National Partnership for Women & Families blog post, it is problematic to cast abortion as a legally cognizable source of injury when ‘the truth is that those declines are much more likely caused by the states themselves… and their policy shortcomings.’ Thus, ‘characterizing abortion as a ‘harm’ to the state increases misogyny and refuses to hold states accountable for the failures they have caused by not providing social support to children and families already in existence.'”
“The deceptive nature of the Trump Administration’s claim to care about ‘making America healthy again’ was laid bare by today’s announcement to fire 10,000 workers across the Department of Health & Human Services (HHS) apparently without regard to the potential harms to the health and well-being of families and health care delivery overall.”
“Janice’s story isn’t just about one outrageous bill—it’s part of a larger crisis that advocacy groups like March for Moms and The National Partnership for Women & Families are fighting to change. Additionally, legislative efforts like the Momnibus Act aim to address disparities in maternal healthcare costs and outcomes.”
Today, Moms Rising/Mamás con Poder and Black Mamas Matter Alliance joined the National Partnership for Women & Families to announce Listening to Mothers IV, a nationwide initiative to hear directly from mothers about being pregnant, giving birth, and supporting themselves and their babies postpartum.
“The point is, don’t freak out over the five-digit bills that show up at first. ‘Those commercial charges are basically a ruse,’ says Carol Sakala, the director of Childbirth Connection programs at the National Partnership for Women & Families. ‘Our research found that hospitals charged over $32,000 for a vaginal birth, on average, but the actual amount paid by the insurance company, the mother, and any other third parties added up to about $18,000. Meanwhile, the out-of-pocket cost is much, much less.'”
“‘There isn’t a national mandate that requires an employer to provide paid family or medical leave,’ says Jocelyn Frye, president of the National Partnership for Women and Families, a nonprofit, nonpartisan advocacy group that focuses on these issues. ‘The FMLA gives you something and it’s important, but it’s only one step in terms of where we need to be.'”
“‘Right now, it falls short in terms of what pregnant people would need,’ said Sinsi Hernández-Cancio, vice president of health justice at the National Partnership for Women and Families. ‘Given that the majority of hospitals have gotten the designation because the requirements for it are a pretty low bar, it’s not really a useful distinction even for those consumers that do have a choice,’ Hernández-Cancio said. ‘Because if the majority of the hospitals have it, and all the ones in your area do, it doesn’t make a difference.'”
The National Partnership and Physicians for Reproductive Health (PRH) released a new analysis of the impact of the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization decision on abortion providers.
This term, two important cases are in front of the Supreme Court that could restrict abortion care nationwide, have devastating impacts on the health of women of color, and undermine the independence of federal institutions…
The National Partnership calls out the recent effort to downplay U.S. maternal mortality crisis.
“While the majority of births in the US still happen in a hospital setting, in 2020 nearly 2% of people chose to give birth in a ‘community birth setting’ such as a birth center or home birth, according to the most recent data from the National Partnership for Women & Families, a nonprofit that tracked these trends based on birth certificate data.”
“After a survey’s measures are created, it can take several years for the results to be publicly reported or tied to payment, said Carol Sakala, senior director for maternal health at the National Partnership for Women & Families, an advocacy organization.”
“A new analysis from the National Partnership for Women & Families and the National Latina Institute for Reproductive Justice, first shared with NBC News, found that close to 6.7 million Latinas (43% of all Latinas ages 15-49) live in 26 states that have banned or are likely to ban abortions.”
NPWF President: “Robust interventions to address the substantial racial inequities in maternal health in the United States are long overdue and require immediate action.”
“”When there have been opportunities to pass the policies that pregnant people and parenting people and families need to thrive, the vast majority of Republicans have opposed them,” said Shaina Goodman, a policy expert with the National Partnership for Women and Families, which has for years championed a federal paid family and medical leave program.”
