An Arizona Senate bill that would have health experts take a closer look at the deaths of Arizona moms after childbirth will now be considered in the House. It passed unanimously out of the Senate on Feb. 11.
Republican Sen. Kate Brophy McGee sponsored the bill, Senate Bill 1040.
It requires the Arizona Department of Health Services to appoint a committee to investigate how Arizona could better track and prevent maternal deaths in the state.
Existing data show 89 percent of maternal deaths in the state are preventable. And for every mom that dies, 35 more face significant health problems related to childbirth.
The health department is already looking more deeply into care for Native American moms, who die at a rate four times higher than white moms.
