NJ plan: Reduce maternal mortality by 50% over 5 years
Parsippany resident Ajanee McConnell was 21 years old when she lost her newborn baby after three days.
The culmination of more than a year s worth of talks with over 100 stakeholders, a strategic plan unveiled by New Jersey first lady Tammy Murphy has the aggressive five-year goal of cutting in half the rate of mothers who die from pregnancy-related complications.
The Nurture NJ Maternal and Infant Health Strategic Plan is the latest element of Murphy s Nurture NJ initiative, which aims to transform the Garden State into the safest and most equitable place in the nation for delivering and raising a baby.
Death rate for N.J. Black women after pregnancy is among nation’s worst. Tammy Murphy has ideas to change that.
Updated Jan 25, 2021;
Ajanee McConnell complained the pain was severe and persistent, yet her obstetrician assured her that prenatal discomfort was normal and her unborn son would be fine.
McConnell said she “suppressed her intuition” and forged ahead. But 19 weeks into her pregnancy, she went into labor. Her son died three days after he was delivered by emergency cesarean section two years ago, McDonnell tearfully told an online audience of 700 on Monday.
“I share my story so that other young Black mothers know that their voices deserve to be heard and when you think something is wrong, don’t let anyone silence you,” said McConnell, 23, of Parsippany.
NorthJersey.com
In New Jersey, a Black woman is seven times more likely to die from pregnancy-related causes than a white woman, and a Black baby is three times more likely to die in the first year of life than a while baby racial disparities that Tammy Snyder Murphy, the state s first lady, said she hoped to correct with an ambitious plan announced Monday.
The plan, the latest part of her signature Nurture NJ campaign, aims to go far beyond educating health care providers to be better listeners and more respectful of the needs of their Black patients, though that is an important step, she said.
WHYY
By
(Atiwat Studio / BigStock)
New Jersey released a plan on Monday to address racial inequities in maternal and infant health, spearheaded by First Lady Tammy Snyder Murphy.
The plan first lays out those stark disparities, before listening off dozens of recommendations for how to fix them.
“A Black mother in New Jersey is seven times more likely than a white mother to die from maternity-related complications, and a Black baby is over three times more likely than a white baby to die before his or her first birthday,” it reads.
The Nurture NJ Maternal and Infant Health Strategic Plan contains 83 recommendations pulled from interviews with more than 100 stakeholders with the goal of reducing maternal mortality by 50% in five years, and eliminating any difference in outcomes by race. To that end, the plan tackles both the larger causes of disparate treatment – such as systemic racism and income inequality – while also pressing health care organizations to do more to br