On Monday, Governor Gavin Newsom signed California Senate Bill 65, nicknamed the ‘Momnibus Act’, which reportedly aims to address racial and income gaps in infant mortality rates in areas like Santa Clarita.
The goal of decreasing racial and income gaps within infant mortality rates was addressed by Governor Newsom this week through the signing of SB 65, also known as the ‘Momnibus Act.’
“The reality is we’ve struggled in this space,” Newsom said. “We haven’t delivered. These gaps have been persistent.”
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SB 65, sponsored by Senator Nancy Skinner, D- Berkeley, was reportedly made to improve research and data collection on socio-economic and racial factors contributing to higher rates of infant and maternal mortality, according to Skinner’s office.
“Despite our medical advances, more U.S. babies and mothers die during birth than in all other high-income countries, and these preventable deaths are disproportionately higher for Black families,” Skinner said. “With the enactment of SB 65, California will help close racial disparities in maternal and infant deaths and save lives.”
The Act would lead to “programs that train certified nurse-midwives” and require the Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development “to contract only with programs that include, or intend to include, a component of training designed for medically underserved multicultural communities, lower socioeconomic neighborhoods or rural communities, and that are organized to prepare program graduates for service in those neighborhoods and communities,” according to the bill’s text.
The Momnibus Act would also remove medical verification and county determination requirements for CalWORKS cash assistance funding to low-income families, instead providing “an exemption to any recipient who is pregnant.”
“The guaranteed income for pregnant women, that’s a big deal and no one else in the country is doing that,” Newsom said. “The Doula Services, the expansion. And by the way that expansion includes women regardless of their immigration status. We’re proud of that.”
SB 65 is sponsored by Black Women for Wellness Action Project, the California Nurse Midwife Association, March of Dimes, NARAL, National Health Law Program and others, according to Newsom’s office.
To read the Momnibus Act’s text for more information, click here.
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