; moreover, risk factors such as a lack of access to prenatal care and physical health conditions do not fully explain the racial disparity in maternal mortality. (8) A growing body of evidence indicates that stress from racism and racial discrimination results in conditions—including hypertension and pre-eclampsia—that contribute to poor maternal health outcomes among Black women. (9) Pervasive racial bias against Black women and unequal treatment of Black women exist in the health care system, often resulting in inadequate treatment for pain and dismissal of cultural norms with respect to health. A 2016 study by University of Virginia researchers found that White medical students and residents often believed biological myths about racial differences in patients, including that Black patients have less-sensitive nerve endings and thicker skin than their White counterparts. Providers, however, are not consistently required to undergo implicit bias, cultural competency, or empathy training. (10) North Carolina has established a statewide Pregnancy Medical Home (PMH) program, which aims to reduce adverse maternal health outcomes and maternal deaths by incentivizing maternal health care providers to provide integral health care services to pregnant women and new mothers. According to the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services Center for Health Statistics, the pregnancy-related mortality rate for Black women was approximately 5.1 times higher than that of White women in 2004. Almost a decade later, in 2013, the pregnancy-related mortality rates for Black women and White women were 24.3 and 24.2 deaths per 100,000 live births, respectively. The PMH program has been credited with the convergence in pregnancy-related mortality rates because the program partners each high-risk pregnant and postpartum woman that is covered under Medicaid with a pregnancy care manager. 3. Implicit bias training for health care providers (a) Grant program The Secretary of Health and Human Services (referred to in this Act as