Governor Hochul: "We are seeing so many signs of people falling through the cracks. Maternal mortality is so high. We are one of those so-called industrialized, civilized nations, and we're far behind so many other countries, especially for women of color, Black women, experiencing maternal mortality at rates that are shocking. And what about their children? What happens to them? So, we have to stop women dying at higher rates in our country, the United States of America, than they are in other places in the world. Let's recommit to that objective."
Hochul: "As long as I'm your Governor I want you to know that my commitment is particularly to people who've not had the attention paid to them - people in underserved communities young families and new mothers We could have stopped a lot of suffering. We could have saved some lives, if we'd only put the spotlight on the crisis that we're going through right now."
Earlier today, Governor Kathy Hochul delivered remarks at the New York State Perinatal Association's 37th Annual Conference and Awards Luncheon and was awarded the 2023 Women & Infants Outstanding Advocate Award.
VIDEO of the event is available on YouTube here and in TV quality (h.264, mp4) format here.
AUDIO of the event is available here.
PHOTOS of the event are available on the Governor's Flickr page.
A rush transcript of the Governor's remarks is available below:
LuAnne, thank you for the work as the Board President. And yes, we are fellow Buffalonians. And you certainly have to be tough coming from Buffalo too, right? We get a little bit of snow once in a while, but we can handle it.
But I thank you for your leadership of this organization. And a Women and Infant Award means a lot to me personally. First of all, I'm a woman and I've had a few infants. So not a lot of governors have been able to say that, so I'm really proud to be the first woman governor as well.
I come to a place like this - first of all, it's nice to see happy people in Albany, so hope you're having a good time. But to all of you, this is a chance just to say thank you. Thank you for being on the front lines of protecting our women and kids.
And you all chose a path in life, whether you're a doctor, a nurse, a doula, a midwife, you all show that you care. There are so many ways you could have devoted your talents and your skills and your passions, but you decided there's people out there who need me. So, I'm here just to say how grateful I am that we have people like you in our state.
In my mind, you're all public servants. You provide vital services. And - do I hear a baby somewhere? Okay. Hi baby. I love babies. I really do. My staff knows that I'm having kind of a rough and tumble day, "Okay, this is the day we need to be at a child care center. We need to go to a maternity ward. We need to go see babies." Because they just remind you of what really matters in life. So, congratulations on your beautiful child.
And our mission has never been more urgent, though. We are seeing so many signs of people falling through the cracks. Maternal mortality is so high. We are one of those so-called industrialized, civilized nations, and we're far behind so many other countries, especially for women of color, Black women, experiencing maternal mortality at rates that are shocking. And what about their children? What happens to them? So, we have to stop women dying at higher rates in our country, the United States of America, than they are in other places in the world. Let's recommit to that objective.
And we're finally talking about situations like postpartum depression when the baby's born. Nobody talked about that. There's no support. I've had babies 35 years ago, 34 years ago. It's tough. It's tough. And people don't understand the hormonal changes and just the sense of being overwhelmed, and "Am I going to get through this?" And you want to make sure the baby's safe, but the mom has to be taken care of as well. And you all know that, and you take such good care of our people.
I see this also because I'm also a grandmother now, a one-year-old grandbaby. She's adorable. She lives in Washington, D.C. and her father, my son, was able to take advantage of - his wife had four months of maternity leave. He picked up the next four months completely solo, and she travels a lot. He's in another week right now of him being with the baby. So, he gets it. And there are a lot of guys who get this too. And he was always so caring of his wife because he knew what she went through physically. He was there to support her. He's doing a marvelous job.
But how many families have that? I mean, she is blessed. They are blessed to be together and support each other. But that is not the norm in so many communities and so many individuals. So, we have to give some extra help. We really, truly do. And I want to make sure that pregnant women are getting the medical attention in advance. We can prevent so many harms to our babies by just getting that attention in advance. And make sure that our state Budget shows where our priorities are. And that's what I can do as Governor. And I've done that with two consecutive budgets now and I'm just getting started.
Especially when we see reproductive rights under assault in other states. And it was last June - June's kind of a rough month for us - the Supreme Court just turned back the clock, not to my time, but to my mother's time. So, my daughter and my granddaughter have fewer rights than my mom did, and I did.
So, there's something horribly wrong in this country when that is the case. And people are so proud of the fact that they can limit abortion to the first six weeks. Who the heck knows they're pregnant the first six weeks? I didn't know until about - I was whitewater rafting. I was pregnant for three months. I didn't even know it. Okay? I didn't know. I was dumb. I didn't know.
But we need to have prenatal screening expanded and doula services more wildly available. Let's help our individuals get that kind of care. And we've extended postpartum Medicaid coverage from 60 days. Okay? Who's feeling good after 60 days? Nobody. To 12 months, to 12 months. That's more realistic.
And we're covering critical support services like lactation counselors, community health workers who are really, again, I mentioned on the front lines, and increasing reimbursements for midwives as well. Because for many people that is the best option. And we've invested in our perinatal centers. We've been supporting any way we can.
But I just want to say this. As long as I'm your Governor - and it's up to the voters, but I hope to be around a long time - I want you to know that my commitment is particularly to people who've not had the attention paid to them - people in underserved communities, people who've not had the focus on young families and new mothers, that should have been there for a long time.
We could have stopped a lot of suffering. We could have saved some lives, if we'd only put the spotlight on the crisis that we're going through right now. So my team is monitoring maternal mortality closely and trying to figure out the answers. With your help, we will.
We're also creating more access to contraception so people can plan when they want to have their family and not be told by government when you have to have them, because that is what they're trying to do in other parts of our country. Access to contraception over the counter - why did this take so long? This should have been going on since I was a teenager. And requiring SUNY and CUNY to guarantee students access to medication abortion as well.
So we've done a lot. I've got a whole lot more I can tell you about. But you know where my heart is, you know where I'm going to take this State. And I want to make sure at the end of my tenure - and I'm so proud to be the Governor - that the rest of the world and the nation look at us and say, "That's how you do it."
We're not there yet, but I don't mind a big challenge. But knowing I have people like you marching forward to make sure that all moms and all babies have the best outcomes possible, then we'll know we're successful. And we won't do it without your support. I thank this organization for this honor. I treasure it. I'm so honored to receive this. And again, thank you for all the amazing work you do across our State. Thank you.