Skip to content Skip to search

Republish This Story

* Please read before republishing *

We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free under an Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives Creative Commons license as long as you follow our republishing guidelines, which require that you credit The 19th and retain our pixel. See our full guidelines for more information.

To republish, simply copy the HTML at right, which includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to The 19th. Have questions? Please email [email protected].

— The Editors

Loading...

Modal Gallery

/
Sign up for our newsletter

Menu

  • Our Mission
  • Our Team
  • Latest Stories
  • Search
  • Upcoming Events
  • Contact Us
  • Newsletter
  • Donate
  • Work With Us
  • Fellowships
    • From the Collection

      Changing Child Care

      Illustration of a woman feeding a baby a bottle
      • 1 in 4 parents report being fired for work interruptions due to child care breakdowns

        Chabeli Carrazana · February 2
      • Washington, D.C., offers financial relief to local child care workers

        Orion Rummler · September 20
      • As climate change worsens hurricane season in Louisiana, doulas are ensuring parents can safely feed their babies

        Jessica Kutz · May 5
    • From the Collection

      Next-Gen GOP

      Illustration of a woman riding an elephant
      • Mayra Flores’ victory set a record for women in Congress. It also reflects the growing visibility of Republican Latinas

        Candice Norwood · June 21
      • A banner year for Republican women

        Amanda Becker · November 11
      • Republican women could double representation in the U.S. House

        Amanda Becker · November 4
    • From the Collection

      On The Rise

      Illustration of three women marching
      • Can Cheri Beasley build a winning coalition in North Carolina?

        Candice Norwood · October 11
      • Los Angeles has never elected a woman mayor. Karen Bass hopes to change that.

        Nadra Nittle · September 8
      • Judge J. Michelle Childs is confirmed to D.C. appeals court

        Candice Norwood · July 20
    • From the Collection

      Pandemic Within a Pandemic

      Illustration of four people marching for Black Lives Matter with coronavirus as the backdrop
      • Some LGBTQ+ people worry that the COVID-19 vaccine will affect HIV medication. It won’t.

        Orion Rummler · November 23
      • Why are more men dying from COVID? It’s a complicated story of nature vs. nurture, researchers say

        Mariel Padilla · September 22
      • Few incarcerated women were released during COVID. The ones who remain have struggled.

        Candice Norwood · August 17
    • From the Collection

      Portraits of a Pandemic

      Illustration of a woman wearing a mask and holding up the coronavirus
      • For family caregivers, COVID is a mental health crisis in the making

        Shefali Luthra · October 8
      • A new database tracks COVID-19’s effects on sex and gender

        Shefali Luthra · September 15
      • Pregnant in a pandemic: The 'perfect storm for a crisis'

        Shefali Luthra · August 25
    • From the Collection

      The 19th Explains

      People walking from many articles to one article where they can get the context they need on an issue.
      • The 19th Explains: What we know about Brittney Griner’s case and what it took to get her home

        Candice Norwood, Katherine Gilyard · December 8
      • The 19th Explains: Why the Respect for Marriage Act doesn’t codify same-sex marriage rights

        Kate Sosin · December 8
      • The 19th Explains: Why baby formula is still hard to find months after the shortage

        Mariel Padilla · December 1
    • From the Collection

      The Electability Myth

      Illustration of three women speaking at podiums
      • Mayra Flores’ victory set a record for women in Congress. It also reflects the growing visibility of Republican Latinas

        Candice Norwood · June 21
      • Stepping in after tragedy: How political wives became widow lawmakers

        Mariel Padilla · May 24
      • Do term limits help women candidates? New York could be a new testing ground

        Barbara Rodriguez · January 11
    • From the Collection

      The Impact of Aging

      A number of older people walking down a path of information.
      • From ballroom dancing to bloodshed, the older AAPI community grapples with gun control

        Nadra Nittle, Mariel Padilla · January 27
      • 'I'm planning on working until the day I die': Older women voters are worried about the future

        Mariel Padilla · June 3
      • Climate change is forcing care workers to act as first responders

        Jessica Kutz · May 31
    • From the Collection

      Voting Rights

      A series of hands reaching for ballots.
      • Election workers believe in our system — and want everyone else to, too

        Barbara Rodriguez, Jennifer Gerson · November 8
      • Voter ID laws stand between transgender people, women and the ballot box

        Barbara Rodriguez · October 14
      • Emily’s List expands focus on diverse candidates and voting rights ahead of midterm elections

        Errin Haines · August 30

    View all collections

  • Explore by Topic

    • 19th Polling
    • Abortion
    • Business & Economy
    • Caregiving
    • Coronavirus
    • Education
    • Election 2020
    • Election 2022
    • Environment & Climate
    • Health
    • Immigration
    • Inside The 19th
    • Justice
    • LGBTQ+
    • Politics
    • Press Release
    • Race
    • Sports
    • Technology

    View All Topics

Home
  • Our Mission
  • Our Team
  • Latest Stories
  • Search
  • Upcoming Events
  • Contact Us
  • Newsletter
  • Donate
  • Work With Us
  • Fellowships

We’re an independent, nonprofit newsroom reporting on gender, politics and policy. Read our story.

The 19th News(letter)

News from reporters who represent you and your communities.

Please check your email to confirm your subscription!

Submitting...

Uh-oh! Something went wrong. Please try again later.

Become a member

The 19th thanks our sponsors. Become one.

Elizabeth Warren speaks on Capitol Hill.
A maternal mortality bill, spearheaded by Sen. Elizabeth Warren, comes as health experts are sounding the alarm that COVID-19 could worsen the nation’s already devastating maternal mortality crisis. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

Coronavirus

Democrats focus new legislation on the pandemic’s effect on maternal mortality

A new bill shared first with The 19th would emphasize issues like federal data collection and COVID-19 vaccine development in an effort to address the health of pregnant people.

Shefali Luthra

Health Reporter

Shefali Luthra portrait

Published

2020-08-10 08:00
8:00
August 10, 2020
am

Share

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Email

The emerging evidence suggests pregnant people are at enhanced risk of complications from COVID-19. Now, a group of Democrats are trying to plug holes in how the government tracks the virus’ impact on pregnancy, put new resources into maternal health and ensure that pregnant individuals are ultimately eligible for any new treatments and vaccines, according to a bill shared first with The 19th.

The bill, unveiled Monday and spearheaded by Sen. Elizabeth Warren and Rep. Lauren Underwood, comes as health experts are sounding the alarm that COVID-19 could worsen the nation’s already devastating maternal mortality crisis. 

In 2018, the most recent year for which federal data is available, 17.4 maternal deaths were recorded for every 100,000 live births. Black people died at more than double the rate of White ones. Meanwhile, data published this June by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention suggested that pregnant individuals were at an elevated risk of requiring intensive care — including intubation — if they contracted COVID-19. 

The 19th thanks our sponsors. Become one.

The CDC data only included the race of 80 percent of people. But even that snapshot suggested Black and Latina women — who, nationally, are contracting COVID-19 at elevated rates — were “disproportionately affected by COVID-19 during pregnancy.”

Beyond physical health complications and disparities, maternal health experts have worried that the pandemic — which has placed new layers of psychological distress on women and transgender people — will exacerbate existing shortfalls in the national response to postpartum depression and anxiety, another area where Black and Latinx individuals are already underserved.

“COVID-19  and the maternal mortality and morbidity crises are hitting our country hard — and hitting Black communities and Indian Country the hardest,” Warren said. “Our bill will ensure the federal government’s response to the coronavirus pandemic centers pregnant people and confronts the systemic racism and discrimination in our health care system.”

The Warren-Underwood bill purports to alleviate this burden through a variety of mechanisms, including:

  • Mandating more robust data collection to show precisely how the coronavirus affects pregnancy across race, ethnicity and geography
  • Requiring that at least one of the COVID-19 vaccines developed in the U.S. be developed and approved for safe use in pregnant people
  • Directing the development of pregnant worker protections through an “emergency temporary standard” — a short-term, enforceable measure from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration that would address COVID-specific worker concerns, such as personal protective equipment requirements, social distancing rules and other strategies to mitigate the spread of exposure.
  • Having the CDC implement a public health information campaign concerning COVID-19 and pregnancy
  • Requiring the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to monitor maternal health during the pandemic and report to Congress on how COVID-19 affects maternal and infant outcomes, including preterm birth rates, labor and delivery outcomes, prenatal and postpartum mental health and C-section rates
  • Creating a federal task force to promote “positive birthing experiences” during the pandemic — focusing in particular on pregnancy outcomes for non-White people and women in rural areas — and funding non-clinical health care workers, such as community health workers, to monitor postpartum health.

The bill’s path to law isn’t obvious, at least in the short term. No Republicans have signed on, and Congress is already at a standstill over the next round of stimulus funding. Still, the proposals the bill  outlines would take aim at some of the issues researchers have consistently highlighted as shortcomings in the nation’s COVID-19 response. 

Data collection is a critical hole in the nation’s approach to maternal health generally, but particularly when it comes to COVID-19, experts say.

“We need to be able to to collect the data and report it back along known structural fault lines so resources can be directed to people most affected,” said Katy Kozhimannil, an associate professor at the University of Minnesota and director of its rural health research center, who provided input on the bill. “It’s essential to understanding what’s happening.”

Generally, states vary in their comprehensiveness around collecting incidence data about deaths and illnesses associated with pregnancy. Current public-facing federal data doesn’t consistently include race and ethnicity for pregnant people who develop COVID-19. There’s no clear picture of whether patients were asymptomatic, or why they were admitted for hospital care. 

“We’re worlds behind other countries in reporting any data in maternal morbidity,” Kozhimannil added.

The vaccine question is another big one. The federal government has poured billions of dollars into developing an immunization for COVID-19. But so far, none have indicated plans to include pregnant people in clinical trials. Moderna and Pfizer, which are both launching late-stage trials in the United States, have listed pregnancy as a reason to be excluded. 

The debate over when and how to test vaccines on pregnant individuals is complex. And, under the bill, companies that do not include pregnant people in COVID vaccine trials would be required to “provide scientific and ethical justification.”

Given their high risk — as well as the prevalence of cisgender women of childbearing age amongst health care workers, teachers and other frontline workers — getting some kind of vaccine for them approved is a high priority, said Dr. Geeta Swamy, an OB/GYN and vice president for research at Duke University. (Data illustrating the gender breakdown of frontline workers does not account for transgender and nonbinary people in the workforce. But other data suggests that they are also at elevated risk for COVID-19.)

From a research standpoint, she added, ensuring even a single vaccine that works during pregnancy means including them in the trials for maybe three or four different candidates.

“We don’t necessarily need a lot of options,” she said. “In the vaccine world, we just need one that works.”

So far, Congress hasn’t passed any legislation specifically focused on the pandemic’s maternal impact. In some ways, that’s unsurprising, Kozhimannil argued— pregnancy is often treated as a niche issue, even though almost 4 million live births occur each year.

“The assumption is that birth is not universal and fundamental, and something we should be prioritizing,” she said. “Being the developed country with the worst maternal health in the world should shame us into action.”

Share

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Email

The 19th News(letter)

News from reporters who represent you and your communities.

Please check your email to confirm your subscription!

Submitting...

Uh-oh! Something went wrong. Please try again later.

Become a member

Up Next

Health

COVID-19 vaccine trials to extend to people with HIV

The change could have far-reaching effects for Black women and transgender people.

Read the Story

The 19th
The 19th is a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization. Our stories are free to republish in accordance with these guidelines.

  • Donate
  • Newsletter
  • Events
  • Search
  • Jobs
  • Fellowships
  • Contact Us
  • About Us
  • Community Guidelines
  • Membership
  • Membership FAQ
  • Major Gifts
  • Sponsorship
  • Privacy
  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Instagram