Council Advances Maternal Health Package Including TBI Screening, Doula Expansion and Newborn Home Visits

Majority Leader Amanda Farias and other sponsors described a multi-bill maternal health package developed by the council’s maternal health steering committee. Sponsors framed the measures as part of a city-level response to a maternal mortality crisis, particularly for Black women, and said the package includes training, reporting, service expansions and budgetary recommendations.

Key elements described on the floor: - Intro 29A (Farias): Directs the city’s Office to End Domestic and Gender-Based Violence, in consultation with the Fire and Police Commissioners, to develop first-responder training to recognize traumatic brain injury (TBI) among survivors of domestic violence; sponsors cited a pilot by Volunteers of America Greater New York that found 4 out of 5 survivors screened in shelters showed injuries consistent with TBI. - Resolutions (various sponsors): Calls for state DOH review and data standardization for maternal event reporting, requests automatic Medicaid coverage for validated home blood pressure cuffs, calls on state action to increase temporary disability insurance payments annually, and asks for confidential data-sharing to support maternal mortality review processes. - Intro 11-46A: Establishes a newborn home-visiting program at DOHMH with free in-person and virtual visits during the first 12 weeks postpartum from social workers, nurses and lactation professionals. - Intro 12-85A / 12-84A / 1001A (Jennifer Gutierrez and others): Proposals described include a free doula program targeted to marginalized neighborhoods, training and certification supports for new doulas, campaigns to educate professionals about safe medication use to treat opioid use disorder in pregnancy, and a multilingual automated text-message system for parents with health and development reminders.

Sponsor framing and data: Sponsors emphasized racial disparities—saying Black New Yorkers are six times more likely to die of pregnancy-related causes than white women—and described the packages as a combination of structural and clinical reforms intended to reduce deaths and improve postpartum care.

Discussion vs. action: Sponsors said the council had convened a steering committee and negotiated policy and budgetary recommendations; the transcript records sponsor presentations and the listing of multiple filings and resolutions to be voted on but does not include recorded vote tallies or motion texts in the excerpt provided.

Outstanding items: The transcript does not include the detailed statutory text, budget appropriation lines, or recorded votes; many items reference state-level action requests that depend on Albany.