The
Brooklyn borough president is
aiming to lower the maternal mortality rate for women of color.
Brooklyn
Borough President Antonio Reynoso
announced he will give the full amount of his 2023 capital funding budget to
three public hospitals in Brooklyn.
The
$45 million donation will go to Woodhull, Kings County and Coney Island
hospitals, with Coney Island receiving the largest amount of funding with $18.5
million to expand and improve their women’s health services department.
“This
all started because of four years ago. My wife was having our
baby in Woodhull hospital, and one of the midwives asked me if I
know that my wife had a 9.4 times higher likelihood to die during childbirth
than her white counterpart,” said Reynoso.
According
to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, maternal deaths
were at 861 for 2020, with 73% of those deaths being women who were
Hispanic or Black.
Reynoso
also said he will be implementing a new task force to educate women on
childbirth and improve women’s hospital departments across Brooklyn.