# Black Maternal Health Caucus

The Black Maternal Health Caucus is a caucus made up of mostly African-American members of the United States Congress. Congresswomen Alma Adams of North Carolina and Lauren Underwood of Illinois founded the caucus in April 2019 and currently serve as co-chairs.

## Purpose

The Black Maternal Health Caucus was founded to 'improve black maternal health outcomes,' with the founders citing statistics that the United States has the worst maternal death rates in the developed world, at 18 death per 100,00 live births, and with a higher rate among black women, at 40 deaths per 100,000 live births.

## History

Shortly after the formation of the Black Maternal Health Caucus, Senator Kamala Harris sponsored the Maternal CARE Act. If passed, the Maternal CARE Act would serve to reduce maternal mortality and morbidity by providing implicit bias training as a solution for addressing racial bias in health care.
As of 2019, seventy-five members of the United States House of Representatives belong to the caucus, including support from Speaker of the United States House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi, House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer and other leaders within the Democratic caucus.
In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States highlighted racial disparities in healthcare. Many Black women requiring hospitalization were dying at alarming rates compared to other racial groups.
In 2021, an updated Momnibus was introduced. Sponsoring members of the House of Representatives of include: Sheila Jackson Lee, Nikema Williams, and Jamie Raskin. The term "Momnibus" is a word play on "omnibus," which is a single bill submitted to a legislature that combines several diverse matters.

## Legislation

In March 2020, Lauren Underwood introduced the Momnibus Package, "which would require the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to publicly post data on COVID-19 and pregnancy, disaggregated by race and ethnicity". In May 2023, the legislation, consisting of 13 individual bills, was endorsed by over 200 organizations and Black maternal health advocates, including Planned Parenthood Action Fund, March of Dimes, Christy Turlington Burns, and Christine Michel Carter.

## Membership

Alabama
* Terri Sewell (AL-07)
Alaska
* Mary Peltola (AK-AL)
Arizona
* Greg Stanton (AZ-04)
California
* Ami Bera (CA-06)
* Barbara Lee (CA-12)
* Kevin Mullin (CA-15)
* Anna Eshoo (CA-16)
* Ro Khanna (CA-17)
* Julia Brownley (CA-26)
* Judy Chu (CA-27)
* Adam Schiff (CA-30)
* Norma Torres (CA-35)
* Ted Lieu (CA-36)
* Mark Takano (CA-39)
* Nanette Barragán (CA-44)
* Katie Porter (CA-47)
* Sara Jacobs (CA-51)
Colorado
* Diana DeGette (CO-01)
* Joe Neguse (CO-02)
* Jason Crow (CO-06)
Connecticut
* John Larson (CT-01)
* Rosa DeLauro (CT-04)
* Jahana Hayes (CT-05)
Delaware
* Lisa Blunt Rochester (DE-AL)
District of Columbia
* Eleanor Holmes Norton (DC-AL)
Florida
* Darren Soto (FL-09)
* Kathy Castor (FL-14)
* Lois Frankel (FL-22)
* Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick (FL-20)
* Jared Moskowitz (FL-23)
* Debbie Wasserman Schultz (FL-25)
Georgia
* Sanford Bishop (GA-02)
* Hank Johnson (GA-04)
* Nikema Williams (GA-05)
* Lucy McBath (GA-07)
* David Scott (GA-13)
Hawaii
* Jill Tokuda (HI-02)
Illinois
* Jonathan Jackson (IL-01)
* Sean Casten (IL-06)
* Danny Davis (IL-07)
* Raja Krishnamoorthi (IL-08)
* Jan Schakowsky (IL-09)
* Bill Foster (IL-11)
* Lauren Underwood (IL-14) (Co-chair)
Indiana
* Frank Mrvan (IN-01)
* André Carson (IN-07)
Kansas
* Sharice Davids (KS-03)
Maryland
* Glenn Ivey (MD-04)
* Steny Hoyer (MD-05)
* David Trone (MD-06)
* Jamie Raskin (MD-08)
Massachusetts
* Jim McGovern (MA-02)
* Lori Trahan (MA-03)
* Seth Moulton (MA-04)
* Katherine Clark (MA-05)
* Ayanna Pressley (MA-07)
Michigan
* Hillary Scholten (MI-03)
* Debbie Dingell (MI-06)
* Haley Stevens (MI-11)
* Rashida Tlaib (MI-12)
Minnesota
* Angie Craig (MN-02)
* Ilhan Omar (MN-05)
Missouri
* Cori Bush (MO-01)
Nevada
* Susie Lee (NV-03)
* Steven Horsford (NV-04)
New Hampshire
* Annie Kuster (NH-02)
New Jersey
* Donald Payne Jr. (NJ-10)
* Mikie Sherrill (NJ-11)
* Bonnie Watson Coleman (NJ-12)
New York
* Gregory Meeks (NY-05)
* Grace Meng (NY-06)
* Nydia Velázquez (NY-07)
* Hakeem Jeffries (NY-08)
* Yvette Clarke (NY-09)
* Adriano Espaillat (NY-13)
* Ritchie Torres (NY-15)
* Jamaal Bowman (NY-16)
* Paul Tonko (NY-20)
* Brian Higgins (NY-26)
North Carolina
* Valerie Foushee (NC-04)
* Kathy Manning (NC-06)
* Alma Adams (NC-12) (Co-chair)
Ohio
* Joyce Beatty (OH-03)
* Shontel Brown (OH-11)
Oregon
* Suzanne Bonamici (OR-01)
* Earl Blumenauer (OR-03)
Pennsylvania
* Dwight Evans (PA-03)
* Mary Gay Scanlon (PA-05)
* Chrissy Houlahan (PA-06)
* Susan Wild (PA-07)
South Carolina
* Jim Clyburn (SC-06)
Tennessee
* Steve Cohen (TN-09)
Texas
* Lizzie Fletcher (TX-07)
* Sheila Jackson Lee (TX-18)
* Michael Burgess (TX-26)
* Sylvia Garcia (TX-29)
* Colin Allred (TX-32)
* Marc Veasey (TX-33)
Vermont
* Becca Balint (VT-AL)
Virginia
* Bobby Scott (VA-03)
* Jennifer McClellan (VA-04)
* Abigail Spanberger (VA-07)
* Don Beyer (VA-08)
* Jennifer Wexton (VA-10)
* Gerry Connolly (VA-11)
Washington
* Rick Larsen (WA-02)
* Kim Schrier (WA-08)
* Adam Smith (WA-09)
* Marilyn Strickland (WA-10)
Wisconsin
* Mark Pocan (WI-02)
* Gwen Moore (WI-04)