ICYMI: Vice President Visits San Francisco to Spotlight the Maternal Health Crisis and Urge Action

Yesterday, the Vice President traveled to San Francisco, California as part of her continued leadership addressing the maternal health crisis. She highlighted EMBRACE, a program that uses an innovative approach to improving maternal health outcomes, particularly for Black women. She met with expecting families, joined a group perinatal session, spoke with members of the health care workforce. The Vice President also delivered remarks, where she called on our nation to "make sure that every woman and every mother in our nation has the care that she needs to thrive," which will impact generations to come.

This visit follows last week, when the Vice President marked Black Maternal Health Week by to address maternal health and combat the systemic inequities that lead to worse maternal outcomes for Black, Native American, and rural women.

Read more about her visit to San Francisco below:

LA Times: Vice President Kamala Harris spotlights maternal health during Bay Area homecoming
[Courtney Subramanian, 4/21/22]

The U.S. is facing a maternal health crisis, Vice President Kamala Harris declared Thursday in remarks at UC San Francisco as she wound down a weeklong trip to her home state. […]

Harris, who has been the face of the Biden administration's efforts to raise awareness on the issue, has advocated throughout her political career to improve healthcare for expectant mothers. […] As senator, Harris sponsored bills that would provide incentives for improving maternal outcomes and training doctors about implicit racial bias in healthcare, which contributes to higher mortality rates for women of color during pregnancy and delivery. Last week, she held the administration's first Cabinet-level meeting on efforts to improve outcomes for pregnant women.

San Francisco Chronicle: VP Kamala Harris decries U.S. maternal health care crisis in S.F. visit, praises UCSF program
[Catherine Ho, 4/21/22]

The United States is facing a maternal health crisis, with the highest maternal death rate among wealthy nations and particularly high rates among Black women, Vice President Kamala Harris said during a visit to UCSF medical facilities in San Francisco on Thursday. The country must make solving the crisis a national priority, she said. […]
The vice president has advocated for policies that would address inequities that lead to worse health outcomes for women of color. In December, she led the White House's first Maternal Health Day of Action to announce investments from companies and nonprofits to reduce maternal mortality.

Axios: Harris: U.S. must address maternal mortality "crisis"
[Shawna Chen, 4/21/22]

Vice President Harris said Thursday that the U.S. must confront its "crisis on the issue of maternal health," especially the disproportionate rate of maternal mortality among Black women.

Why it matters: Roughly 700 women die in the U.S. each year as a result of pregnancy or delivery complications, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Compared to white women, Black women are over three times more likely and Native women over two times as likely to die.

NBC Bay Area: Vice President Kamala Harris Talks Maternal Health in San Francisco
[Sergio Quintana, 4/21/22]

Vice President Kamala Harris made a visit to San Francisco Thursday as part of the administration's tour through the West Coast.
At UCSF's Mission Bay campus , Harris got an up-close look at the hospital's EMBRASE program which is aimed at improving the health and wellbeing of Black women throughout their pregnancies and after.
"Black women are three times as likely to die from pregnancy related complications. Native women are more than twice as likely to die," said the vice president.

PBS Newshour: WATCH: Vice President Harris delivers remarks on efforts to improve maternal health
[News Desk: 4/21/22]

Vice President Kamala Harris delivered remarks Thursday on efforts to improve maternal health among minorities during a visit to University of California San Francisco Mission Bay Medical Center in San Francisco, California. During the visit, Harris highlighted the good work health professionals do while addressing the systemic inequalities many minority women face when going through childbirth. […]

"All of these topics must be elevated as national priorities. And that is why President Joe Biden and I have waged this fight from the White House," Harris said.

Huffington Post: Kamala Harris Calls Out 'Crisis' Of Maternal Mortality In U.S.
[Sarah Ruiz-Grossman, 4/21/22]

Vice President Kamala Harris is once again drawing attention to the "national crisis" of women dying from pregnancy and childbirth complications — disproportionately Black women. In a visit Thursday to the University of California, San Francisco, Harris noted that the U.S. has the worst maternal mortality rate among all developed countries.

"I do believe that our nation is facing a crisis on the issue of maternal health — it's real," Harris said in her remarks.