Alabama Maternal Mortality Review Committee

Alabama legislators unanimously passed a bill that would expedite access to Medicaid for pregnant women, as more states across the South attempt to stem high maternal and infant mortality rates. The "presumptive eligibility" legislation states that Medicaid will pay for a pregnant woman's outpatient medical care for up to 60 days while an application for the government-funded insurance program is being considered.

Alabama women die each year from complications related to pregnancy, occurring during pregnancy and up to one year following a pregnancy or delivery, according to the Alabama Department of Public Health (ADPH). The agency is now taking new steps to help reduce the maternal mortality in the state.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says the United States saw its first jump in infant mortality in twenty years. Alabama is among nineteen states that a report for the CDC says saw its rate of infant death increase significantly

Alabama had the highest rate of residents dying from pregnancy complications in the nation between 2018 and 2021. That’s according to an August report from the Milken Institute, a nonprofit and nonpartisan think tank.

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (The Birmingham News) — The Alabama state legislature has approved nearly half a million dollars to investigate deaths from childbirth…