At her eighth and final Nurture NJ Leadership Summit last week, first lady Tammy Murphy looked back on all that she’s accomplished when she set out to improve the state’s maternal health outcomes seven years ago, yet remained focused on the work that still needs to be done.
“Our responsibility is to make sure every future administration and every future Legislature and every future health system leader sees maternal health as not optional, but as essential,” Murphy said.
When the Murphy administration took office, New Jersey ranked 47th in the nation for maternal and infant health outcomes. Today, the Garden State ranks 25th. The Murphys will soon pass the baton to Gov.-elect Mikie Sherrill, who has reaffirmed that maternal and infant health is a key priority when she takes office in January.
“Maternal and infant health equity is not a side project; it is core to who we are as a state,” Sherrill said. “I’m committed to continuing that important work to improve health outcomes, particularly for Black women, in the state of New Jersey.”
A Black mother in New Jersey is almost seven times more likely than a white mother to die from maternity-related complications and a Hispanic mother is more than three times likelier to die. For infants, a Black baby is three times more likely to die and a Hispanic infant is 1.6 times more likely to die than a white baby.
Under the Murphy administration, Medicaid coverage expanded to cover midwives and doulas in the birthing space. But even with that expansion, some experts say it’s not enough.
“I know a lot of doulas in this space who walk into rooms and do not feel recognized, do not feel safe,” said Latham Thomas, founder of Mama Glow, an organization focusing on maternal health education and advocacy. “And so just as much as it’s important to ensure that we create spaces that are safe for our families, we also need to ensure that our care workers feel safe, feel dignified and feel like they’re part of a community.”
Gov. Phil Murphy noted at the summit that it has taken 70 pieces of legislation to get to where we are now.
