Council advances solutions and action steps identified by convened stakeholders to further stem public health emergency

New York, NY - Today, the New York City Council released a report from it's Maternal Health Steering Committee with a set of policy and funding actions taken by the Council and recommendations to address the city's maternal mortality crisis and its severe racial disparities. The Council also approved a package of legislation that stems from the collaborative efforts by advocates, medical providers, unions, and elected officials on the Steering Committee. The legislative package advances key policies to support new parents, expands access to treatment for birthing people dealing with addiction, and bolsters data sharing, medical care, and oversight. The report also outlines the Steering Committee's findings, following nearly a year of convenings, research, and advocacy to improve maternal health outcomes across the city.

"A year after sounding the alarm on maternal mortality and its severe racial disparities as a public health emergency, we all must continue the important work to end its devastating toll on our communities," said Speaker Adrienne Adams. "The Maternal Health Steering Committee's report, alongside legislation we passed today and throughout the last four years, marks a critical step towards addressing the deeply entrenched, systemic inequities that continue to unnecessarily claim the lives of mothers. I am proud of the work our women-majority, historically diverse City Council has taken to prioritize maternal health like never before, harnessing the collective power and political will of stakeholders across our city and state to confront this issue with the urgency and empathy it demands. The Steering Committee's hard work and insights pave a path forward for the health and safety of our families. It is incumbent on future city leaders, providers, and all stakeholders to sustain this focus on ending maternal mortality."

The Maternal Health Steering Committee was first announced last October, following Bevorlin Garcia Barrios' death at NYC Health + Hospitals/Woodhull. Speaker Adrienne Adams delivered an emergency speech calling maternal mortality an urgent public health emergency. In New York City, between 50 and 60 women and birthing people lose their life during pregnancy or within one year from the end of pregnancy. Black New Yorkers are six times more likely to die of pregnancy-related causes compared to white New Yorkers. According to the latest report from the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DOHMH), the leading cause of pregnancy-associated deaths in recent years has been mental health conditions, including 14 overdose deaths and seven suicide deaths.

The disparities in maternal mortality are a product of medical and structural racism that leave Black women, communities of color, and low-income New Yorkers without access to adequate medical care, while experiencing negative socioeconomic outcomes and stressors that perpetuate severe disparities in health outcomes.

The report outlines policy and budgetary recommendations to advance and sustain progress in addressing systemic inequities that contribute to maternal mortality:

1. Invest in critical resources - Increase Medicaid reimbursement and funding for doulas and midwives and ensure automatic authorization of Medicaid coverage for pregnant New Yorkers to access blood pressure cuffs.
2. Advance key State legislation - Pass State bills to strengthen telehealth reimbursement S.3359/A.1691 (Rivera/Paulin), expand Temporary Disability Insurance S.172/A.84 (Ramos/Solages), and ensure access to blood pressure monitoring devices S.8541/A8946 (Webb/Jackson).
3. Expand maternal mental health support - Provide funding for maternal health psychologists in every Health and Hospitals (H+H) maternity department to combat the leading cause of pregnancy-associated deaths and promote emotional wellness during and after pregnancy.
4. Improve data access and accountability - Enable the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DOHMH) and Maternal Mortality Review Committee to access the New York Patient Occurrence Reporting and Tracking System (NYPORTS) and ACS data to strengthen oversight.
5. Sustain greater investments in safety-net hospitals - Direct increased State and City funding to safety net hospitals, including targeted funding specifically for improving maternal health outcomes.

In February 2025, Speaker Adams convened the Maternal Health Steering Committee, a group of advocates, medical providers, union leaders, and elected officials to advance coordinated action steps that combat the severe racial disparities in maternal health. Steering Committee members helped inform several pieces of legislation that were reviewed at a Council hearing in June and several resolutions that were considered at a hearing earlier this month.

The legislative package passed by the Council includes:

• Introduction 1001-A, sponsored by Council Member Jennifer Gutiérrez, would require an automated text message system that sends parents and guardians reminders and guidance about children's health and development, including information like recommended medical checkups, vaccination schedules, and deadlines for early childhood education and public school enrollment. Parents and guardians would be able to sign up using just a phone number and have the option to receive messages in multiple citywide languages.
• Introduction 1146-A, sponsored by Majority Whip Selvena Brooks-Powers, would require the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DOHMH) to maintain a Newborn Home Visiting Program that offers free in-person and virtual visits from social workers, nurses, and lactation professionals to new parents during the first 12 weeks after a child's birth.
• Introduction 1284-A, sponsored by Council Member Jennifer Gutiérrez, would require DOHMH to implement an education campaign for health professionals who provide care and support during and after pregnancy-including doctors, nurses, midwives, and doulas-about the safe use of medications to treat opioid use disorder (OUD). The campaign would focus on the benefits of using opioid agonist therapies during pregnancy and explain the risks of withdrawal for the birthing person, fetus, and newborn.
• Introduction 1285-A, sponsored by Council Member Jennifer Gutiérrez, would require the Commissioner of Health and Mental Hygiene to make permanent the program to provide free doula services to people in marginalized neighborhoods in all five boroughs, to train individuals to become doulas, and to offer assistance to certain maternity hospitals to foster a doula friendly environment. The program would train doulas in birth equity, trauma-informed care, perinatal mood and anxiety disorders, and navigating the hospital environment and support services available to low-income birthing people and their families.
• Introduction 1393-A, sponsored by Deputy Speaker Diana Ayala, would require DOHMH to provide information to the public and non-obstetric healthcare providers on healthy living, nutrition, and managing chronic diseases during and after pregnancy.
• Resolution 64-B, sponsored by Council Member Tiffany Cabán, would call upon the New York State Legislature to pass, and the Governor to sign, S.3359/A.1691, legislation that enables community health centers to be fully reimbursed for telehealth care services.
• Resolution 867-A, sponsored by Speaker Adrienne Adams, would call on the New York State Assembly to pass, A.84, and the Governor to sign, S.172/A.84, which would provide for annual increases of the weekly Temporary Disability Insurance payments from January 1, 2026 through January 1, 2030, so that such payments achieve parity with weekly payments available for those on Paid Family Leave.
• Resolution 868-A, sponsored by Speaker Adrienne Adams, would call on the New York State Legislature to pass, and the Governor to sign, S.8541/A.8946, legislation that mandates that Medicaid automatically authorize the coverage of validated blood pressure cuffs and monitors for pregnant people and fully reimburse healthcare providers who assist such patients in their usage.
• Resolution 1082-A, sponsored by Deputy Speaker Diana Ayala, would call on the New York State Department of Health to confidentially share data regarding adverse maternal health events from the New York Patient Occurrence Reporting and Tracking System (NYPORTS) with the New York City Maternal Mortality Review Committee.
• Resolution 1085-A, sponsored by Council Member Mercedes Narcisse, would call on New York City Health and Hospitals facilities to report adverse maternal health events to NYPORTS based on an expanded and standardized definition of adverse maternal health events, including adverse events at least 30 days post-partum.
• Resolution 1086-A, sponsored by Council Member Chi Ossé, would call on the New York State Department of Health to create a new and separate occurrence code for maternal mortality and to standardize the definition of events reportable to NYPORTS.
• Resolution 1087-A, sponsored by Council Member Lynn Schulman, would call on the New York State Department of Health to conduct regular reviews of NYPORTS data, and to require hospitals to retroactively fill in missing data.

These recent efforts follow the Council's 2022 passage of 11 bills to expand maternal health services, including doula care, and address systemic inequities that affect women and birthing people, particularly those that disproportionately harm Black, Latino, and indigenous people. In 2024, as part of the third stop of the Council's Mental Health Roadmap, the Council also passed a package of bills aimed at improving maternal mental health support. The legislation included the creation of a pilot program establishing postpartum support groups in each borough and a public awareness campaign on available maternal mental health services.

"To address the maternal mortality crisis, it is essential that we provide women and birthing people with reliable information, and that we have a clear understanding of adverse events that affect maternal health outcomes," said Deputy Speaker Diana Ayala. "Introduction 1393-A strengthens our commitment to empowering New Yorkers with the knowledge and resources they need to lead healthy lives. I'm also proud that the Council voted to pass Resolution 1082-A, which strengthens our partnership with the state to ensure that our work to identify disparities and advance targeted solutions is grounded in data. This shared knowledge will lay the foundation for future collaborative efforts to close gaps and ensure safer outcomes for our communities."

"Every new parent deserves access to care and support during those first critical weeks after birth," said Majority Whip Selvena N. Brooks-Powers. "Expanding the Newborn Home Visiting Program will help ensure that families, especially in communities facing the greatest health disparities, have the resources they need to thrive. I am proud to stand with my colleagues in advancing Intro 1146 and building a healthier, more equitable city for all New Yorkers."

"Accurate and transparent hospital reporting is essential to keeping patients safe and improving the quality of care across New York State," said Council Member Lynn Schulman, Chair of the Committee on Health. "By calling for regular audits and the completion of missing NYPORTS data, this resolution reinforces our commitment to accountability and patient safety. New Yorkers deserve a health care system that learns from its mistakes and continually works to do better. I want to thank Speaker Adrienne Adams and my Council colleagues for their leadership and support in advancing this important measure to strengthen oversight and protect patients."

"The ongoing maternal mortality crisis is one of the most devastating indicators of racial inequity in our city. Black women continue to face systemic failures within our healthcare system that have cost too many lives and shattered too many families," said Council Member Farah N. Louis, Chair of the Committee on Women and Gender Equity. "Our majority women-led Council has advanced significant legislation that takes a critical step toward transforming maternal care into a model of equity, accountability, and compassion, and as Chair, I remain committed to ensuring that every birthing person, regardless of race, income, or ZIP code, has access to the quality care and support they deserve before, during, and after pregnancy."

"As a nurse, I've seen how dangerous it can be when critical information about maternal health complications goes unreported or overlooked," said Council Member Mercedes Narcisse, Chair of the Committee on Hospitals. "By ensuring that adverse maternal health events are clearly defined and fully reported, we can work towards closing any data gaps, while holding our systems accountable, and ultimately saving lives. Every mother deserves to survive childbirth and receive the care she needs before, during and after childbirth."

"This Council has put maternal mortality front and center. We're not afraid to be honest and have painful conversations when needed to put an end to these preventable deaths" said Council Member Jennifer Gutiérrez. "This is a harm reduction bill (Introduction 1284-A), a maternal health bill, a common sense public health bill, and it's one that will save lives, especially for the pregnant New Yorkers who have been suffering in silence and ignored because of stigmas that might exist"

Council Member Gutiérrez continued regarding Introduction 1285-A: "This is what it means to build public health with equity at the center. We are saying, as a city, that safe births are not a luxury. Every Black and Brown mother, every immigrant mother, every low-income mother deserves a trained advocate in the room, and we're making that a right - not a pilot, not a grant, not a maybe. Permanent."

Council Member Gutiérrez concluded: "We know what works-clear, direct communication that meets families where they are. Parents shouldn't have to sift through bureaucratic emails to keep up with their child's milestones. TXT4KIDS uses common-sense technology to make sure every parent has the information they need to help their child grow, learn, and succeed - in the language that they need."

"Black women in New York City are six times more likely to die from pregnancy or childbirth than white women, a disparity even worse than the national one," said Council Member Chi Ossé. "These deaths are preventable, yet New York State continues to rely on a flawed reporting system that hides the full scope of this crisis. Generations of neglect and bias have left Black New Yorkers questioning a medical system that too often fails to see their pain. The State Department of Health must step up, create a dedicated code for maternal mortality, and ensure every loss is counted. Accountability begins with telling the truth, and every mother in our state deserves nothing less."

"I am proud today that the council is passing my Resolution 64, which urges the New York State Legislature to enact legislation enabling community health centers to be fully reimbursed for telehealth care services," said Council Member Tiffany Cabán. "Community health centers are lifelines for working-class New Yorkers, immigrants, and families of color. Telehealth proved during the pandemic that it saves lives and removes barriers to care. We should be expanding access, not cutting it off."

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