2025 -- S 0965

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LC002763

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     STATE OF RHODE ISLAND

IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY

JANUARY SESSION, A.D. 2025

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S E N A T E   R E S O L U T I O N

COMMEMORATING "BLACK MATERNAL HEALTH WEEK" ON APRIL 11TH - 17TH,

2025, IN THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND

     Introduced By: Senator Tiara T. Mack

     Date Introduced: April 10, 2025

     Referred To: Recommended for Immediate Consideration

     WHEREAS, This year marks the eighth annual "Black Maternal Health Week" which

was founded and is led by the Black Mamas Matter Alliance; and

     WHEREAS, The week is observed across the country in order to raise awareness for

Black maternal health by enhancing the dialogue, increasing community involvement, and

promoting solutions, policies, and research; and

     WHEREAS, Disproportionately, Black women are 50 percent more likely than all other

women to give birth to premature, low birthweight, and very low birthweight infants with the

leading causes of maternal mortality among Black women and birthing persons including

eclampsia, preeclampsia, postpartum cardiomyopathy, and obstetric embolism; and

     WHEREAS, The high rates of maternal mortality impacting Black women and birthing

people span across three major factors, income levels, education levels, and socioeconomic status

with structural racism, gender oppression, and the social determinants of health inequities

experienced by Black women in the United States significantly contributing to the

disproportionately high rates and playing a consequential role in maternal health care experiences

and outcomes of Black birthing people; and

     WHEREAS, In order to improve maternal health outcomes for Black women, systemic

change in maternal health care that ensures that the methods used to address implicit bias and

racism align with Black women’s needs, values, and preferences and address the ways in which

health care systems perpetuate inequality is essential; and

     WHEREAS, The Associate Director of the Office of Research on Women's Health stated,

“Understanding the variations in experiences across socioecological domains between white and

minority women in the United States is important in developing more effective policies and

programs to reduce racial disparities in MMM [maternal morbidity and mortality] and, ultimately,

save mothers”; now, therefore be it

     RESOLVED, That this Senate of the State of Rhode Island hereby commemorates "Black

Maternal Health Week" on April 11th - 17th, 2025, and urges all Rhode Islanders to advocate for

effective policies, and solutions to eliminate racism, bias, and inequities in maternal care; and be

it further

     RESOLVED, That the Secretary of State be and hereby is authorized and directed to

transmit a duly certified copy of this resolution to the Black Mamas Matter Alliance.

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LC002763

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