Wisconsin’s persistent racial gap in infant deaths remains largely untouched at the state Capitol, where lawmakers’ latest effort to improve birth outcomes for Black families ended without a single committee hearing. Nearly 850 Black babies died before their first birthdays in Wisconsin between 2015 and 2024, according to state data. In 2024, the state recorded 12.5 deaths for every 1,000 live births among Black infants, compared with 4.8 deaths per 1,000 births among white infants. The disparity is especially personal for the five women serving in the Wisconsin Legislative Black Caucus. Their experiences include premature births, high-risk pregnancies, traumatic deliveries and encounters with medical providers they said failed to listen to or adequately inform them. “Being a senator that knows all the data I think has made it more nerve-wracking,” Sen. Dora Drake, D-Milwaukee, said during a July listening session while pregnant. Drake delivered a healthy baby in early September. The latest legislative proposal, known as the Birth Equity Act, was developed by Rep. Shelia Stubbs, D-Madison, with the Foundation for Black Women’s Wellness. The seven-bill package was introduced last February and was designed around concerns raised by Black women and families. The measures would have expanded Medicaid coverage for doula care before, during and after delivery; required coverage for maternal mental health screenings; improved access to dental care during pregnancy; and allowed pregnant people to enroll in health insurance outside the usual enrollment period. Other proposals would have exempted breastfeeding equipment from the sales tax, prevented the state from seeking reimbursement for birth expenses from new mothers enrolled in Medicaid, and required hospitals and insurers to support requested postpartum home visits for mothers and babies. None of the bills received a public hearing before the Legislature adjourned. That included measures referred to the Assembly Committee on Health, Aging and Long-Term Care, where Stubbs serves as a member. Assembly health committee Chair Clint Moses, a Republican, did not respond to multiple requests for comment, according to the lawmakers. Committee chairs generally control which proposals receive hearings, often in coordination with legislative leadership. “For all of the bills we introduced, absolutely none of them received a hearing,” Stubbs said, calling the outcome unacceptable. “These bills came directly from Black women.” Sen. LaTonya Johnson, D-Milwaukee, said Republican resistance has continued despite years of evidence showing the crisis cannot be explained simply by income or individual behavior. “It’s not a priority for them, honestly,” Drake said. Johnson delivered her daughter nearly eight weeks early after a midwife recognized that she needed a higher level of care. Johnson said she later learned from her medical records that an infection had contributed to the premature birth, information she said doctors had not clearly communicated at the time. Her daughter survived and is now in her 20s. Johnson said that reaching the first birthday was a privilege many Black families in Wisconsin do not receive. Rep. Margaret Arney, D-Wauwatosa, said she and her twin sister were born prematurely, despite their mother’s college education. The experience, she said, demonstrates why the disparity cannot be reduced to social class. Rep. Sequanna Taylor, D-Milwaukee, said a doctor once told her she was unlikely to carry a pregnancy to term but did not explain why. After she delivered, she required emergency surgery because she could not deliver the placenta, a complication that can lead to severe infection. The lawmakers said these experiences reflect a broader problem of Black women not being believed, respected or fully informed during medical care. Stubbs recalled that a nurse once mistakenly gave her another Black patient’s test results during her pregnancy. Drake said a hospital staff member assumed she had Medicaid when she disclosed that she had state insurance after breaking her arm. She said such encounters contribute to distrust that can make pregnancy more frightening, even for patients with education, professional resources and political influence. The caucus members also pointed to the long history of medical experimentation on Black people, including the 19th-century surgeries performed without consent or anesthesia on enslaved women by physician James Marion Sims. They said health systems must address that history and provide culturally competent care if they expect to rebuild trust. Johnson cited a recently enacted law extending postpartum Medicaid coverage as an example of bipartisan progress. About 76% of Black women who give birth in Wisconsin are enrolled in Medicaid, she said, making the policy particularly significant for Black mothers. But the lawmakers said extended coverage alone will not resolve the crisis. They argue that access to doulas and midwives, maternal mental health services, postpartum support and respectful, culturally competent treatment are also necessary. Wisconsin has repeatedly ranked among the states with the highest Black infant mortality rates. During the first half of the 2015-to-2024 period, nearly one-quarter of Black infant deaths were linked to prematurity or low birth weight, the leading cause of death among Black infants in the state. The caucus members say the lack of legislative action has consequences beyond partisan debate. Their goal, Stubbs said, is to ensure that more Wisconsin families get to bring their babies home. “We are telling them because we want to save the next life,” Stubbs said.