I recently welcomed my second child into the world, and while this is a joyful moment for my family, my experience during pregnancy and childbirth was deeply sobering. Along the way, I was intimately aware of the risks I faced and the need for systems change to help families thrive, not just survive.

When I delivered my first child, I was diagnosed with thrombocytopenia, a condition that caused excessive bleeding and made an epidural too dangerous. After delivery, stress triggered both preeclampsia and shingles. My daughter spent her first week in the NICU while my family prayed over us both, and I remained on bed rest.

This time, I had a health care team that was prepared to support me through my pregnancy. But too many women don’t have access to that level of care or planning. And a healthy delivery is just the beginning. For many families, the challenges can mount up quickly: a lack of paid leave, unaffordable child care and limited postpartum support. These aren’t personal failings — they’re systemic gaps. And they’re among the reasons many young people are not having children.

Recently, I’ve heard a lot of ideas about how to encourage people to have more children, including suggestions from the White House, such as motherhood medals or one-time baby bonuses. I’ve seen these issues from every angle as a mother, an advocate and as the executive director of the National Association for Family Child Care (NAFCC). The answer is clear to me. To build a country where families want to — and are able to — raise children, we must start with three core policies: improving maternal health care, expanding paid family leave and making child care more accessible and affordable.

Improve Maternal Health to Help Families Thrive

The U.S. has one of the worst rates for maternal mortality among wealthy countries. The numbers are even more devastating for Black women, who are nearly three times more likely to die from pregnancy-related causes than white women, regardless of education or income.

As a Black woman with a college education, I face a pregnancy-related mortality rate that is five times higher than that of my white counterparts. This time around, I’m fortunate to have a Black OB-GYN who understands these disparities, but many women don’t have access to culturally competent care or even basic prenatal services. Over 2.2 million women live in “maternity care deserts,” with another 4.8 million in areas with limited access to maternity care.

Read the full article about family-friendly policies by Erica Phillips at The 74.