{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.warnock.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/warnock-leads-panel-highlighting-impact-of-fatherhood-engagement-on-black-maternal-health/", "Warnock Leads Panel Highlighting Impact of Fatherhood Engagement on Black Maternal Health", "2026-09-18", "2026", "2026-09", "Democrat", "Senate", "GA", "Raphael G. Warnock", "W000790", "www.warnock.senate.gov", "warnock", "https://www.warnock.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/", "scraper", "Yesterday, Senator Reverend Warnock convened a panel of advocates dedicated to improving Black maternal health outcomes by promoting fatherhood engagement\n\nThe panel included Dr. Lynne Lightfoote, OB-GYN at Washington Wellness Group; Charles Johnson, founder of 4Kira4Moms; Omari Maynard, founder of ARIAH Foundation; and Lamman Rucker, an actor and advocate\n\nSenator Warnock has worked to combat maternal mortality and improve health outcomes for Black families across the country\n\n\u201cBEYOND THE STATISTICS: A Conversation on Black Fathers Protecting Black Motherhood\u201d took place during the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation\u2019s 55th Annual Legislative Conference\n\nSenator Reverend Warnock: \u201cThere is no reason that in the United States of America\u2014the most powerful and wealthiest country on the planet and in the history of humankind\u2014to have the kind of maternal mortality rate that we have\u201d\n\nWashington, D.C. \u2013 Yesterday, U.S. Senator Reverend Raphael Warnock (D-GA) hosted a panel with prominent community advocates focused on improving Black maternal health outcomes through investing in and creating programs that promote fatherhood engagement. The panel, titled \u201cBEYOND THE STATISTICS: A Conversation on Black Fathers Protecting Black Motherhood,\u201d builds on Senator Warnock\u2019s legislative record addressing maternal mortality and improving health outcomes for Black families. 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. Senator Warnock was joined by Dr. Lynne Lightfoote, OB-GYN at Washington Wellness Group; Charles Johnson, founder of 4Kira4Moms; Omari Maynard, founder of ARIAH Foundation; and Lamman Rucker, an actor and advocate. Thursday\u2019s panel follows a panel Senator Warnock hosted earlier this year that emphasized these findings.\n\n\u201cMy goal is for all of you to leave feeling compelled to advocate for including dads in maternal and infant health,\u201d said Senator Reverend Warnock. \u201cThere is no reason that in the United States of America\u2014the most powerful and wealthiest country on the planet and in the history of humankind\u2014to have the kind of maternal mortality rate that we have.\u201d\n\n\u201cWe are all about all the clinical and non-clinical risk factors associated with this crisis, but a huge part of our theory of change is we believe that if we can empower a new generation of fathers to understand how to show up, how to advocate, how to demand better, how to support that mother in ways that they weren\u2019t able to, we can quickly make a drastic change and improve maternal outcomes,\u201d said Charles Johnson.\n\n\u201cThe primary misconception is that Black men aren\u2019t there, and that they don\u2019t care, and in my experience, both as a father since 17, and as an educator, as an activist, as an artist, advocate, and someone who\u2019s worked in this space, even on the policy side, and who also can reference data, we are there, and we care,\u201d said Lamman Rucker. \u201cBlack men have been showing up and have even been raising kids that don\u2019t belong to them for years and years.\u201d\n\n\u201cPregnancy should be something joyous, and pregnancy should be something that you should not be afraid of, but now we\u2019re afraid to get pregnant, Black women are afraid to get pregnant and that\u2019s not okay,\u201d said Dr. Lynne Lightfoote.\n\n\u201cI need to use my voice. I need to use my heart. I need to use our story in order to help inspire people in order to create change and make sure that you know we all do this together in solidarity,\u201d said Omari Maynard.\n\nNationwide, Black women are 3.5 times more likely to die during childbirth than white women, and, in Georgia, a recent study revealed nearly 90% of maternal deaths were preventable. In response to these devastating findings, Senator Warnock and the panelists highlighted data showing that father involvement during and after a child\u2019s birth is associated with improved maternal and child health outcomes.\n\nSenator Warnock has long championed efforts to combat maternal mortality and improve health outcomes for Black families in Georgia and across the country. Earlier this year, Senator Warnock joined a bicameral coalition to introduce the Kira Johnson Act, legislation that funds community-based organizations working to improve maternal health outcomes, particularly for Black women.\n\n###", 1, "2026-09-19T09:11:33Z", "2026-09-19T09:12:45Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.warnock.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/warnock-leads-panel-highlighting-impact-of-fatherhood-engagement-on-black-maternal-health/"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.510667148977518, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}