Sen. Warnock tours CDC, shares concerns over ‘intolerable’ maternal mortality crisis in US

DEKALB COUNTY, Ga. — U.S. Sen. Rev. Raphael Warnock visited the U.S. Centers for Disease Control headquarters in DeKalb County Friday, focused on solutions that could save the lives of new mothers and babies.

At the CDC, the senator promised more funding for the agency to help them fight the maternal mortality crisis across the United States. Channel 2 Action News was the only television station invited to the tour.

Channel 2′s Linda Stouffer was at the CDC with Warnock, where he and Dr. Deb Houry, chief medical officer at the CDC, said more efforts to save more families were needed.

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The senator toured the CDC with health workers on the front lines of the maternal mortality crisis.

“Way too many women die just trying to bring a baby into the world,” Warnock told Channel 2 Action News.

New data from the CDC shows that 22 mothers in America died for every 100,000 live births in 2022.

That number was even higher for Black mothers, where 49.5 mothers died for 100,000 live births.

“For black women it’s as much as three times higher than white sisters, even when they have the income and insurance,” Warnock said. “That’s intolerable.”

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Channel 2 Action News has shown the heartbreak families go through from this crisis before, and how innovative solutions like closer monitoring of moms after childbirth could help.

Stouffer talked to Houry about a targeted program the agency wants to expand to improve maternal outcomes in the United States.

“More hospitals, more states, so everybody has access to safe and quality maternal care. Save more moms, and have healthy babies,” Houry said.

Warnock is pushing for fully funding operations at the CDC for the next fiscal year, which would cost $9.7 billion, including $118 million for Safe Motherhood and Infant program.s

“I’m grateful I was able to get $100 million to support the work these incredible workers and scientists are doing right here, right now,” Warnock said. “If you believe in women and you believe they ought to have a choice, you should be supporting this issue. If you are pro-life, you ought to be supporting this issue.”

There are some signs of progress in the fight against maternal mortality in the U.S.

The death rates for mothers have improved from the previous year, but are still considerably worse than in other developed countries.

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