Important Maternal Mortality and Morbidity Information!
Texans Deserve Equity in Maternal Health
Every two years, the Texas Maternal Mortality and Morbidity Review Committee (MMMRC) is required by law to publish our state's maternal health data and their policy recommendations.
This year, the MMMRC’s report is not only late—the MMMRC now says it won't be released until December 1, 2026, after the 2026 midterm elections.
Texans deserve answers about our state's poor maternal health outcomes, and we deserve them now.
What To Know: An Overview of Public Comment
The Maternal Mortality and Morbidity Review Committee meetings are open to the public, and held quarterly. At the end of each meeting, members of the public can provide public comment back to the committee. This can be done live, in-person, virtually, or through written comment submitted by the end of the day of the meeting.
Public comments are required to be about an agenda item of the meeting. Most meetings start with open comments from Dr. Ortique, the Committee Chair. This is most often the part of the meeting folks speak on.
People speaking have 3 minutes to say their name, and speak their comment. Your comments are put on record, and help the committee know what the community cares about, and things they should consider either in their report, or at their next meeting.
While it can feel stressful or intimidating to give your input, these folks on the committee are people who volunteer their time to review maternal deaths, trying to make sense of why they happened and then make recommendations to keep them from happening again. It’s helpful to remember that you are a human speaking to other humans who want to hear what you have to say.
While the committee itself rarely has a say in when reports are released (they were complete with the data and recommendations in mid summer), others watch and listen to these meetings - like the folks at HHSC, media, and elected officials. Speaking here helps uplift the things you care about to a broader audience.
In the past, many public comments have been around asking for more or specific data (and why we need that data), uplifting community based solutions to maternal mortality and morbidity such as the importance of midwifery led care, sharing the role of doulas, and/or uplifting a desire for the committee to shift their policies - like the need for informant interviews in reviewing cause of death, or in adding folks with lived experience onto the committee.
