Council hearing presses Health and Hospitals on maternal care, data and disparities

Councilmember Narcisse (co-chair, Committee on Hospitals and Committee on Women and Gender Equity) and Councilmember Lehi (co-chair) questioned officials from New York City Health and Hospitals (H+H) on staffing, data, training and patient protections during a joint hearing on maternal health on Oct. 28, 2025.

The hearing focused on H+H policies around substance testing, midwifery and doula access, mental‑health screening and postpartum follow-up, and the system’s ability to disaggregate outcomes by race, language and other factors.

Why it matters: New York City’s maternal mortality and morbidity rates remain a public‑health priority. City lawmakers sought to clarify what H+H is already doing and what it can do quickly to reduce preventable complications, improve follow‑up care after birth and root out disparities for Black and Latino birthing people.

Officials from H+H told the council that the system treats substance use disorder as a medical condition and that “written informed consent is required in order to test a pregnant person for substances,” adding that referrals to substance use treatment are increasing even as testing has declined. A H+H representative said the system’s maternal homes and social‑work teams are its largest referral source for community doula services.

H+H said midwifery services are available across most of the system but not at every facility: H+H provides birth and labor care at 11 maternity hospitals and “three of our facilities do not have midwives,” the representative said, naming Harlem, Lincoln and Queens…