; (8) insufficient practical support for delivery of care by midwives, including telehealth access; (9) the adverse economic impact on Black mothers and families due to job loss or reduction in income during quarantine and the pandemic recession; and (10) pervasive racial injustice against Black people in the criminal justice, social, and health care systems; Whereas new data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has indicated that since the COVID–19 pandemic, the maternal mortality rate for Black women has increased by 26 percent; Whereas, even as there is growing concern about improving access to mental health services, Black women are least likely to have access to mental health screenings, treatment, and support before, during, and after pregnancy; Whereas Black pregnant and postpartum workers are disproportionately denied reasonable accommodations in the workplace, leading to adverse pregnancy outcomes; Whereas Black pregnant people disproportionately experience surveillance and punishment, including shackling incarcerated people in labor, drug testing mothers and infants without informed consent, separating mothers from their newborns, and criminalizing pregnancy outcomes; Whereas justice-informed, culturally congruent models of care are beneficial to Black women; and Whereas an investment must be made in— (1) maternity care for Black women and birthing people, including support of care led by the communities most affected by the maternal health crisis in the United States; (2) continuous health insurance coverage to support Black women and birthing people for the full postpartum period up to at least one year after giving birth; and (3) policies that support and promote affordable, comprehensive, and holistic maternal health care that is free from gender and racial discrimination, regardless of incarceration