This past Monday, San Fransisco Mayor London Breed announced a new plan to help expecting mothers in need.
The plan calls for approximately 150 low-income Black and Pacific Islander pregnant women to receive $1,000 a month during the term of their pregnancy and for at least six months after.
According to information acquired from the City of San Fransisco, Black infants in San Francisco are nearly twice as likely to be born prematurely compared to white infants, while Pacific Islander infants have the second-highest preterm birth rate. Furthermore, their mothers are three to four times as likely to die from childbirth complications as white women, according to 2016 data from the US Centers for Disease Control.
In addition, the California Department of Public Health confirms that experts say that social, economic, and racial stresses play an important role in poor birth outcomes—babies born too early and too small—for African-American women. This shows the need for this new plan to assist low-income Black and Pacific Islander pregnant women.
“San Francisco has seen lasting health disparities in the Black and Pacific Islander communities, which we cannot allow to continue,” said Health Director Dr. Grant Colfax.
The hope is that this plan will reduce stress on these expecting mothers, therefore reducing infant mortality rates and maternal mortality rates among these communities.
For more information, visit the latest news and announcements from Mayor London N. Breed on the City and County of San Fransisco’s website.
