Gov. Kathy Hochul introduces plan to offer prenatal leave to N.Y. mothers

Gov. Kathy Hochul on Thursday outlined plans to expand parental leave benefits for millions of New Yorkers and to broadly lift lingering barriers to doula access, moving to address rising maternal and infant mortality rates that she characterized as a “crisis.”

Hochul, a Democrat, proposed bolstering a statewide paid family leave program to include 40 hours of additional leave for mothers to pursue prenatal care. No state in the nation has enacted statewide paid prenatal leave, the governor’s office said.

The blueprint would expand the New Yorkers Paid Family Leave program, which covers more than 8 million people across the state, according to Hochul’s office. Most state workers and employees in the private sector are eligible to participate in the program.

Hochul, the first mother elected governor of New York, said she had been dismayed by a recently reported national increase in infant mortality rates that began to reverse 20 years of sustained progress.

The data, she said, “shook me to my core.”

“Mothers and babies are dying unnecessarily across the nation, and right here in New York,” Hochul said in a news conference at a Brooklyn hospital.

In 2022, the infant mortality rate rose by 3% nationwide, according to provisional government data. And the number of maternal deaths surged by about 40% between 2020 and 2021, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported.

Black women are three times as likely as white women to die of a pregnancy-related cause, according to the CDC.

The New York City Health Department reported 29 pregnancy-related deaths in 2020, including 21 deaths of Black and Latina women, according to a city report.

Hochul also said Thursday that she would seek the passage of legislation allowing the state to lift a requirement that New Yorkers have medical referrals to receive care from doulas.

Doulas are trained to provide crucial counseling during the childbirth process, but do not deliver babies. Mothers who have the support of doulas are less likely to experience complications or to require Caesarean sections.

Starting this year, all New York mothers who receive Medicaid are entitled to doula services at childbirth. More than 7 million people receive health care coverage under New York’s Medicaid program, according to the state Health Department.

Hochul said the next step is to make it easier and faster for all mothers to access doulas.

“It’s just common sense,” said Hochul, who is currently outlining a series of priorities ahead of her State of the State address, which is expected to include the prenatal care proposals. “It’s a support system that women, particularly in Black and Brown communities, absolutely need. So, let’s start removing the barriers for women to access them.”

Hochul’s proposals require passage by the state Legislature, according to the governor’s office.

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