Equity Before Birth | Everyone Deserves and Equitable Start

A Quick Overview

of a very complex issue

Despite having the most funded healthcare system in the world, the US produces some of the worst maternal health outcomes out of all industrialized countries

While maternal death has consistently decreased all over the world, the rate of pregnancy-related death in the US has more than doubled since 1987

Black birthing people and their infants are significantly more likely to suffer from preventable childbirth-related complications or DEATH than their white counterparts

Over 60% of pregnancy-related deaths are preventable

Studies show paid parental leave dramatically improves birth outcomes for both the birthing person and the baby

Supplemental income promotes financial security - removing one of the largest barriers to receiving care - leading to less stress and better birth and recovery outcomes

Facing the Facts

"Several cross‐national studies have examined whether national expansions of paid leave influenced rates of infant mortality. This work shows that increases in paid parental and/or maternity leave lowered rates of infant mortality, with benefits largely concentrated in the postneonatal period from 1 to 12 months of age."

Nandi, A., Jahagirdar, D., Dimitris, M., Labrecque, J., Strumpf, E., Kaufman, J., Vincent, I., Atabay, E., Harper, S., Earle, A., & Heymann, S. (2018). The impact of Parental and Medical Leave Policies on Socioeconomic and Health Outcomes in OECD Countries: A Systematic Review of the Empirical Literature. Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6131347/