text: Posted: 4:29 PM, May 08, 2019
  Updated: 2019-05-08 18:56:57-04
  By: Associated Press , Christie Duffy
  New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy signed four bills into law Wednesday aimed at improving maternal health care, particularly lower-income residents using Medicaid. The first-term Democrat signed the measures alongside first lady Tammy Murphy, as well as a handful of lawmakers and other advocates at University Hospital in Newark.
  NEWARK — New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy signed four bills into law Wednesday aimed at improving maternal health care, particularly lower-income residents using Medicaid.
  Murphy said the measures show the state acknowledges that "every mother, every birth, and every child matters."
  Women of color in New Jersey are at greater risk for birth complications. They're five-times more likely to die from it than white women. While black babies in New Jersey are three-times more likely than white babies to never see their first birthday.
  "This is the widest racial disparity in the entire nation, and it is wholly unacceptable," said First Lady Murphy, who has made maternal health her key mission.
  The third bill bars early, elective deliveries that are not medically necessary for those on Medicaid and on the state's health benefits plans. The bill's sponsors say that's important because early deliveries could present health risks for babies and moms, and that labor should be induced only if medically necessary, not because it's simply most convenient.
  Jaye Wilson, a community health nurse who is also the founding president of a networking group for mothers of color called Melinated Moms, said she has been on Medicaid while pregnant. She got emotional talking about how two pregnancies ended in her losing her babies. Wilson, who is black, said she didn't think she had the right to ask questions, and she also attributed the losses in part to her skin color.
  "Through this bill they showed us the impact of the sound of our voices (doesn't) just live as a statistic on a piece of paper," Wilson said.
  The cost of the new measures isn't entirely clear.
  Doulas are often paid for privately by families, but they can be a life-saving advocate and educator for expecting moms.
  "And that's what they need. They need someone who is going to speak up for them when they can't," said doula Shantel Pipkin, who recently acted in that role when one of her clients called from a hospital waiting room complaining of severe cramping.
  "She stood in the waiting room for about six hours without seeing a doctor," she said. "I came running to her. By the time I got to her, she started to bleed. I then went and got doctors' attention and afterwards, she lost her baby."
  For Medicaid to cover doulas, New Jersey will need to apply for federal approval.
  The new laws also follow an initiative launched this year by New Jersey's first lady to raise awareness about maternal mortality rates.