Senator Linares Testifies in Favor of Bill to Address Maternal Mortality

Senator Art Linares (Westbrook) testifies before the legislature’s Public Health Committee supporting the creation of a maternity mortality review committee.

Hartford – Today, State Senator Art Linares (R-33) testified before the legislature’s Public Health Committee encouraging passage of legislation to create a maternity mortality review committee within the Department of Public Health. It is Raised Bill 304, An Act Establishing A Maternity Mortality Review Committee Within The Department Of Public Health.

“The United States has the highest maternal mortality rate among industrialized countries. One organization estimated that 23.5 mothers die for every 100,000 births,” Sen. Linares said. “This information is, and should be shocking. While the rates of mothers dying before, during, or after birth have been dropping in other nations, between 1990 and 2015, it has gone up 56 percent in the United States.”

Sen. Linares said that epidemiologists credit poor record keeping as both the reason better numbers are not available and the reason the rates have risen so dramatically.

“The key to understanding and improving the maternal mortality rate is better record keeping,” he said, adding that Connecticut does not have an established method for tracking the number of and reason for maternal deaths.

“As has happened in other countries, the collection and assessment of maternal mortality data will help identify reasons for the deaths. This data can then be used to identify and implement health care measures that can be taken to prevent future maternal deaths,” Sen. Linares said. “Pregnancy and the birth of a child should be a happy, healthy occasion for both mother and child.  To that end, we must give the health care community every available means to achieve that. I hope you will agree with me that Raised Bill 304 can aid this endeavor and that the committee approves passage of this legislation.”

Sen. Linares represents the communities of Chester, Clinton, Colchester, Deep River, East Haddam, East Hampton, Essex, Haddam, Lyme, Old Saybrook, Portland and Westbrook.