As Texas reviews the future of its Maternal Mortality Review Committee, researchers warn that failing to reauthorize the panel would leave the state with fewer answers—and fewer opportunities to save lives.
Texas is considering whether to continue one of its most important tools for preventing maternal deaths.
The state’s Maternal Mortality Review Committee (MMRC), which investigates pregnancy-related deaths and identifies ways to prevent them, is currently undergoing Sunset review—a routine process that determines whether state programs will continue operating. If lawmakers fail to reauthorize the committee, Texas will lose a critical source of information about why mothers are dying and what can be done to save lives.
The stakes are especially high for Black women. In Texas, Black women are nearly four times more likely than white women to die from pregnancy-related causes. Texas’ maternal mortality rate also exceeds the national average, and approximately 80 percent of pregnancy-related deaths are considered preventable.
As public health researchers who have studied women’s health and health disparities in Texas for decades, we know that meaningful progress depends on understanding what is driving these deaths and holding systems accountable for addressing them.
Maternal mortality review committees are one of the most effective tools states have for doing exactly that.
MMRCs are multidisciplinary committees that review deaths occurring during pregnancy and the postpartum period to determine whether they were related to pregnancy, whether they were preventable and what changes could reduce future deaths. Their recommendations help healthcare providers, policymakers and communities identify gaps in care and develop strategies to save lives.
MMRCs’ effectiveness depends on consistent funding, comprehensive and unbiased data, independent and multidisciplinary membership, strict protections for patient privacy and a nonpunitive process that encourages full participation.
Texas’ MMRC has been a critical part of the public health infrastructure, generating evidence and guidance for preventing maternal deaths.
Despite its essential role, the future of the committee is uncertain.
In Texas, the MMRC’s most recent report, focusing on deaths from 2020, found that maternal deaths were related to preventable causes, including infection, cardiovascular conditions and obstetric hemorrhage.
Other underlying circumstances also contributed to these deaths: widespread rural maternity care deserts, lack of health insurance and inadequate postpartum support, as well as the growing impact of mental health conditions and intimate partner violence.
The report also recommended expanding maternal health and safety initiatives, engaging Black communities in maternal health program development, improving mortality review protocols, increasing public awareness and implementing evidence-based strategies to reduce cardiovascular disease—the leading cause of pregnancy-related death.
If Texas’ MMRC is not reauthorized, Texans will lose the most important source of data about preventable reasons for maternal deaths and severe illness.
We will also lose the ability to see if any of the state’s efforts to address the above causes, such as expanding Medicaid coverage up to 12 months following delivery, are working to prevent pregnancy-related illness and death.
At a time when health misinformation and disinformation are widespread, MMRCs can build trust by collecting and sharing accurate and timely maternal data with the public and steering elected leaders toward evidence-based solutions for safeguarding our health. Ending the committee would not only undermine efforts to address adverse maternal health outcomes—it would also further erode Texans’ trust in the institutions charged with protecting us.
MMRCs are not a standalone solution to improving health outcomes for pregnant Texans.
Reauthorizing the Texas MMRC will not, by itself, eliminate preventable maternal deaths or close longstanding racial disparities. Improving maternal health also requires high-quality prenatal and postpartum care, expanded access to mental health and social services, and stronger support for community-based providers, including midwives and doulas.
But Texas cannot solve a problem it refuses to measure. Without the MMRC, healthcare providers, researchers, policymakers and communities will lose the clearest picture available of why mothers are dying and which interventions are working.
At a moment when maternal mortality remains a public health crisis—and Black women continue to face disproportionate risks—Texas should be strengthening this committee, not questioning whether it should exist at all.
