Hoping to 'raise bar' for rest of nation, NY governor proposes paid leave for prenatal care

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul has proposed expanding paid parental leave to allow workers to attend prenatal appointments.

The budget plan, announced Thursday as the state Legislature began its session this week, would allow any eligible New Yorker 40 hours of paid leave for prenatal care.

Hochul's office said her state would be the first in the nation to allow coverage of such appointments. Research has highlighted increasing disparities in infant and maternal mortality among low-income people and people of color, particularly Black women.

"We hope what we're doing in New York will raise the bar for the rest of the nation," Hochul, a Democrat, said Thursday at an event at a hospital in Brooklyn. "Consistent medical care in the early months makes all the difference."

The U.S. has seen increasing rates of babies dying in the first year and mothers dying during childbirth, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The U.S. rates far surpass those of other wealthy countries.

In New York, the Black infant mortality rate is more than double the average, which follows national trends, according to a state health department report. The report noted that structural racism, discrimination and health inequality contributed to disparities in women dying of preventable childbirth complications.

Preventable deaths:The rate of women dying in childbirth surged by 40%. These deaths are preventable.

Under current state law, benefits aren't available until a month before a child's birth after a seven-day waiting period. Offering prenatal care as a separate qualifying event would ensure pregnant people could get their medical needs met, the governor said.

Hochul's proposal, set to be unveiled during her State of the State address next week, includes waiving co-pays and other out-of-pocket costs for pregnancy-related benefits for New Yorkers enrolled in certain health plans. She also wants the state to provide funding for free portable cribs for economically disadvantaged New Yorkers to reduce the number of infant deaths related to unsafe sleep settings. Additionally, she is proposing that the state launch initiatives to reduce the rate of unnecessary cesarean sections, which the governor said are performed more frequently than recommended by some doctors.

“We need urgent action to combat the infant and maternal mortality crisis, and our Governor continues to step up to the plate with a six-point plan to make motherhood safer for all," state Assemblymember Rodneyse Bichotte Hermelyn, a Brooklyn Democrat who experienced a miscarriage in a New York hospital, said in a statement.

New York's Legislature, in which both houses are controlled by Democrats, began its session on Wednesday. Spokespeople for both state Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie and Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins said their offices would review the governor's proposal.

Contributing: David Robinson, USA TODAY Network New York; The Associated Press