Warnock Hosts Panel of Fathers Working to Improve Maternal Health Outcomes

Since arriving in the Senate, Senator Reverend Warnock has worked to combat maternal mortality and promote healthy families

Georgia has one of the highest rates of maternal deaths in the country

The Dads Matter Act of 2025 aims to improve maternal health outcomes through promoting fatherhood engagement

Senator Reverend Warnock: "It's a scandal and a scar on the soul of America that women routinely bring babies into the world with one foot in the grave"

Washington, D.C. - On Tuesday, U.S. Senator Reverend Raphael Warnock (D-GA) hosted the Dads Matter: Preventing Maternal Mortality and Promoting Healthy Families panel, centered around improving maternal and infant health outcomes by promoting fatherhood engagement. In his opening remarks, Senator Warnock highlighted the need to pass his bipartisan Dads Matter Act, which would direct the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to conduct a public awareness campaign to highlight the importance of father inclusion and engagement in improving maternal health outcomes. The panel included four dads: John Jensen, Del Beaver, Rodrigo Stein, and Charles Johnson. Charles Johnson founded the organization 4Kira4Moms with the mission of addressing maternal mortality; the title honors his late wife Kira, who passed from childbirth complications. Senator Warnock is also the lead champion of the Kira Johnson Act, which funds community-based organizations working to improve maternal health outcomes, particularly for Black women.

The panelists presented data showing that father involvement during and after a child's birth is associated with improved maternal and child health outcomes. The risks for nearly all preventable complications, including preeclampsia and sudden infant death, decrease with dad involvement.

"There's no reason for the United States of America, the most powerful country on the planet, to have the kind of maternal mortality rate that we have," said Senator Reverend Warnock. "It's a scandal and a scar on the soul of America that women routinely bring babies into the world with one foot in the grave."

Last year, Senator Warnock first introduced the Dads Matter Act in 2024. This bipartisan legislation would direct the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to conduct a public awareness campaign to highlight the importance of father inclusion and engagement in improving maternal health outcomes.

Senator Warnock has long championed legislation to combat maternal mortality and improve health outcomes for hardworking families. Senator Warnock previously partnered with Senator Rubio to pass the Maternal Health Quality Improvement Act, signed into law in 2022, that provides federal funding to reduce maternal mortality and improve implicit bias training for providers to prevent maternal death. Senator Warnock also partnered with U.S. Senator Alex Padilla (D-CA) to introduce the Kira Johnson Act, legislation to provide funding to community-based organizations leading the charge to improve maternal health outcomes, particularly for Black women.

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