Members of a health care advocacy group plan to deliver 400 postcards this afternoon to local lawmakers asking for improved access to maternity care in Northeast Philadelphia.

State Sen. Michael Stack and staff members for Reps. Dennis O'Brien, George Kenney and Sen. Shirley Kitchen, plus Al Taubenberger, president of the Greater Northeast Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce, are expected to meet the advocates and accept delivery of the postcards at a meeting at a local diner, the Maternity Care Coalition said.

The postcards grew out of a town hall meeting in November that focused on concerns about the availability of maternity care in the Northeast after the closure of obstetrical units at Jeanes and Frankford hospitals.

The lawmakers will be asked to move forward on suggestions made by community members, including opening a birthing center, raising insurance reimbursement rates for maternity care and making public the reimbursement rates for prenatal care, labor and delivery.