Sponsors (45)
The bill strengthens maternal mortality review processes, data, and culturally informed services—especially for Tribal and racial/ethnic minority communities—and expands access to perinatal supports, at the cost of increased federal spending, new administrative and reporting burdens, and some risks around privacy, timeliness, and ensuring culturally rooted implementation.
Pregnant and postpartum people—especially those from racial and ethnic minority groups—will benefit from expanded and standardized reviews and definitions (including mental health and substance-use causes and a 1-year postpartum window), improving detection of pregnancy-related deaths and enabling better prevention.
Maternal mortality review committees and local communities will gain stronger inclusion and representation (reserved Tribal seats/grants, community consultations, HHS technical assistance), increasing culturally informed reviews and recommendations.
The bill provides sustained federal funding for reviews, targeted studies, and research (multiple authorizations across FY2027–2031), supporting ongoing maternal health surveillance, community engagement, and evidence-based interventions.
Taxpayers and federal budgets will face increased spending from multiple authorizations (recurring $10M/year authorizations plus reserved Tribal funds and a multi‑year AI/AN study), raising budgetary obligations or the need for offsets.
State, Tribal, and local health agencies, hospitals, maternal review committees, and MSIs will incur additional administrative, reporting, and data-collection burdens to comply with new standards and application/reporting requirements.
Expanding data collection and data‑sharing for reviews raises patient privacy and confidentiality risks if specific safeguards are not implemented.
Based on analysis of 7 sections of legislative text.
Authorizes grants, studies, and federal reviews to improve maternal mortality and severe maternal morbidity data, diversify review committees, and fund targeted research for minority and AI/AN communities.
Introduced March 25, 2026 by Sharice Davids · Last progress March 25, 2026
Creates new federal programs, studies, and reviews to improve data, community engagement, and research on maternal mortality and severe maternal morbidity—especially for racial and ethnic minority groups and American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) communities. It funds grants to diversify and support State and Tribal maternal mortality review committees, directs federal agencies to review and improve maternal health data and quality measures, commissions a focused AI/AN study, and sets up research grants at minority-serving institutions. Provides multi-year authorized funding for these activities, requires stakeholder consultation and reporting to Congress, expands required review topics (including nonclinical drivers and mental-health/substance-use-related deaths within one year postpartum), and defines key terms for maternal care and outcomes.