PA HR451

Designates April 11-17, 2026, as "Black Maternal Health Week" in Pennsylvania to raise awareness about maternal mortality and morbidity among Black women.

Black women in the U.S. are more than three times more likely than White women to die from pregnancy-related causes, according to the CDC.

In Pennsylvania in 2021, the pregnancy-associated mortality rate for non-Hispanic Blacks was 186 deaths per 100,000 live births—more than two times the rate for non-Hispanic Whites.

98% of pregnancy-related deaths in Pennsylvania in 2021 were considered preventable, and approximately half of cases from 2013-2018 did not receive adequate prenatal care.

Philadelphia County accounts for 20% of Pennsylvania's maternal deaths, with a pregnancy-related death rate of approximately 20 per 100,000 live births (2013-2018), exceeding the 2018 national rate of 17.4.