CHARLOTTE, N.C. — On Tuesday, Dec. 7 the White House rolled out its first-ever White House Maternal Health Day of Action.
The day of action which was directed under Vice President Kamala Harris was a call to action to both the public and private sectors as an effort to help improve maternal health outcomes throughout the nation.
UNC Charlotte's Faculty Emeritus, Dr. Ann Newman appeared as a member of the first panel, "Building Back Better by Improving Maternal Health". Newman who also is a board-certified specialist in psychiatric nursing spoke with WCNC Charlotte shortly after the panel about maternal mental health.
"What I tried to do to the Congressional panel was to point out that maternal mental health is a big issue for pregnant women. And that this bill back better bill will have provisions that will include training more folks to work in mental health and providing assistance to these pregnant women both pre and postpartum," Newman told WCNC Charlotte.
The Build Back Better bill which was passed by the House in Nov. 2021, has plans to use around $2.2 trillion over the next 10 years to fight climate change, expand health care with some focuses on maternal health, and bring down costs and strengthen the middle class.
On a local level, Newman told WCNC Charlotte that there are projects are in motion to help increase the quality of maternal health services.
"On a local level, we do have some projects already going we have, for instance, liaison with the Charlotte Mecklenburg health department and UNC Charlotte. One of my colleagues, Dr. Mary Kaufman helped to initiate that program. And this is looking at first defining the problem and getting a good handle on the scope of where we are," Newman said.
The Senate could vote on this bill as soon as next week.
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