Black moms die at far higher rates. Will NC legislature do anything about it?
Good morning and welcome to your daily dose of North Carolina political news. I’m politics editor Jordan Schrader, with a dispatch today from legislative and lobbying reporter Esther Frances.
Despite little movement on similar bills in the past, state Sen. Natalie Murdock is pushing for a slate of legislation targeting Black maternal health in North Carolina.
Nationwide, Black women are three times more likely to die from maternity-related complications than white women, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In North Carolina, 87% of pregnancy-related deaths for Black women between 2018 and 2020 were considered preventable.
Murdock, a Durham Democrat, said at a press conference on Wednesday that she will refile the “MOMnibus” package “until outcomes for Black moms and their children improve, because when you do better with the demographic that is doing the worst, then the numbers will improve for everyone.”
“Healthcare is a basic human right, and this is healthcare. Just because healthcare is down the street does not always mean you have access to it, and it doesn’t always mean that you’ll be listened to when you share that you’re in crisis,” she said. “During this legislative session, we will keep fighting for it.”
A series of bills, Senate Bill 906 through Senate Bill 912, aim to reduce Black maternal deaths through various methods, including implementing an “evidence-based implicit bias training program” for perinatal healthcare providers and appropriating funds for education on miscarriage, midwifery and the disproportionate impact of maternal mortality on Black, Indigenous, rural and low-income communities.
Murdock told The N&O that one of the biggest hurdles for this type of legislation is the current political climate surrounding diversity initiatives. Last year, a law passed the state legislature banning diversity, equity and inclusion practices in higher education institutions. Gov. Josh Stein vetoed that bill, and lawmakers have been unable to successfully override it.
“We know the support is there, and we just need the political will to get it across the finish line, and more allies, and more support, which is also why we’re here,” she said. “Then we’ll be talking to majority members as well today, not just folks on my side of the aisle.”
Alongside Murdock at the press conference were a few healthcare professionals, including Michele Benoit-Wilson, an OB-GYN with 26 years of experience. Benoit-Wilson shared stories of fictional women who were based on real data and “failures of the system that was supposed to protect them.” She then discussed types of care that could have helped in each scenario.
For example, Jamila, a woman who is six months pregnant, addicted to fentanyl and lives in a rural area, could have been referred to an addiction medicine specialist. From 2018 to 2019, one of the leading causes of pregnancy-related deaths in North Carolina was mental health conditions, including substance abuse, according to the state’s Department of Health and Human Services.
Benoit-Wilson said if the state’s perinatal substance use disorder network had enough funding to reach Jamila’s county, “she would not need to choose between prenatal care and addiction treatment. She would get both from providers who understand that what she has is a disease and not a character flaw.”
Rep. Zach Hawkins, also a Durham Democrat, said he has filed the MOMnibus in the House.
At the press conference, he shared the importance of husbands and spouses speaking up for their partners giving birth because “Black women report having their concerns dismissed ... at alarming rates.”
“Many mothers do not receive the postpartum emotional support they need,” he said. “These outcomes are the result of systemic barriers that can and must be addressed, and that’s why we’re here, and that’s why we must … continue to show up.”
All seven Senate MOMnibus bills were filed in April.
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This story was originally published June 16, 2026 at 5:00 AM with the headline "Black moms die at far higher rates. Will NC legislature do anything about it?."
