Delayed: Mandatory maternal mortality rate data won’t be ready for Texas lawmakers in time for 2023 session

Vanna Waldron, left, evaluates Erika Piñon at the Holy Family Birthing Center in Weslaco. (Credit: Reynaldo Leal for The Texas Tribune)

For the first time, a state report detailing the latest data on how many Texans die as a result of pregnancy or childbirth complications will not be ready before the Texas Legislature convenes next year.

The delay of the state’s maternal mortality report — what would have been the fourth one since 2014 — was first disclosed two weeks ago by Dr. John Hellerstedt, commissioner of the Texas Department of State Health Services, during the state’s maternal mortality committee meeting.