Taskforce on Maternal Mortality and Disparate Racial Outcomes
New York State’s Taskforce on Maternal Mortality and Disparate Racial Outcomes is a comprehensive initiative to target maternal mortality and reduce racial disparities in health outcomes, building on the State's commitment to addressing maternal mortality across the state. The multi-pronged initiative includes efforts to review and better address maternal death and morbidity with a focus on racial disparities, expanding community outreach, and taking new actions to increase access to prenatal and perinatal care, including establishing a pilot expansion of Medicaid coverage for doulas.
The Taskforce provides expert policy advice on improving maternal outcomes, addressing racial and economic disparities and reducing the frequency of maternal mortality and morbidity in New York State. The Taskforce is charged with developing cross-cutting recommendations to reduce maternal mortality and specifically address racial disparities in outcomes for women of color. The Taskforce was first convened by Governor Kathy Hochul when she was Lieutenant Governor and is comprised of OB-GYNs, hospital representatives, appointees from Senate Democratic Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins, Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie, Senate Majority Leader John Flanagan and Assembly Minority Leader Brian Kolb, as well as other stakeholders and members of the community.
Reports
Taskforce on Maternal Mortality and Disparate Racial Outcomes Recommendations to the Governor to Reduce Maternal Mortality and Racial Disparities
- Recommendations to the Governor to Reduce Maternal Mortality and Racial Disparities Report (PDF)
- Commissioner's Listening Session Report (PDF)
Taskforce on Maternal Mortality and Disparate Racial Outcomes Membership List
- Membership List (PDF)
Meetings
- Meeting #1: Wednesday, June 27, 2018
- Agenda (PDF)
- Presentations
- National Landscape of Maternal Mortality – William Callaghan, MD, MPH (Chief, Maternal and Infant Health Branch, Center for Disease Control and Prevention) (PDF)
- New York State Maternal Mortality – Marilyn Kacica, MD, MPH (Medical Director, Division of Family Health, New York State Department of Health) (PDF)
- Black Maternal Health Inequities – Joia Crear–Perry, MD, FACOG (Founder and President, National Birth Equity Collaborative) (PDF)
- Meeting #2: Tuesday, September 25, 2018
- Agenda (PDF)
- Presentations
- New York State Perinatal Quality Collaborative – Marilyn Kacica, MD, MPH (Medical Director, Division of Family Health, New York State Department of Health) (PDF)
- Continuing Medical Education and Curriculum Development – Ricardo Azziz, MD, MPH, MBA (Chief Officer, Academic Health and Hospital Affairs, State University of New York System Administration) (PDF)
- Medicaid Doula Coverage Pilot – Alda Osinaga, MD, MPH and Elizabeth Misa (Medical Director and Deputy Medicaid Director, Office of Health Insurance Programs, New York State Department of Health) (PDF)
- Commissioner's Listening Sessions (PDF)
- Meeting #3: Thursday, December 20, 2018
- Agenda (PDF)
- Presentations
- Centering Pregnancy – Khalil Alshaer, MD, MPH (Medical Director, Division of Health Plan Contracting and Oversight, New York State Department of Health) (PDF)
- Maternal Mortality Symposium – Christa Christakis (Executive Director, American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) District II), Wendy Wilcox, MD, MBA, MPH, FACOG (Chairman, Dept. of OB/GYN, NYC Health and Hospitals, Kings County), and Mary D'Alton, MD (Chair, Dept. of OB/GYN, Columbia University Medical Center) (PDF)
For more information on maternal mortality go to: health.ny.gov/MaternalHealthMatters