Sponsors (3)
The bill directs new funding, standardized data and broader reviews to better identify and reduce maternal mortality—particularly for racial/ethnic minorities and AI/AN communities—but does so at added federal cost and with increased administrative, privacy, and implementation burdens that must be managed to realize equitable, timely benefits.
Pregnant and postpartum people—especially those from racial and ethnic minority groups—will get more comprehensive, standardized reviews and data (including suicide, overdose, and expanded severe maternal morbidity criteria), improving detection of risk patterns and enabling better-targeted prevention and clinical interventions.
American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) communities gain dedicated research, funding, and Tribal representation to produce tailored recommendations and improve AI/AN maternal health data and responses.
Hospitals, health systems, and providers will receive clearer, standardized quality measures and improved data guidance, supporting better clinical practices and quality improvement in maternity care.
Taxpayers will fund several new programs and studies (multiple $10M/year grants plus a multi‑year AI/AN study and related implementation costs), increasing federal spending and fiscal pressures to support these activities and follow-up implementation.
State and local health departments, maternal mortality review committees, hospitals, and providers will face substantial administrative, IT, and operational burdens to expand reviews, update indicators, collect stratified data, and meet reporting requirements—potentially requiring additional staff and funding.
Collecting and publicly reporting more granular demographic, mental-health, and substance-use information increases risks to individual privacy and may expose sensitive data about pregnant and postpartum people if protections and data-sharing safeguards are not robust.
Based on analysis of 7 sections of legislative text.
Authorizes grants, data reviews, research, and a Tribal study to strengthen maternal mortality/morbidity data, expand review scope, and fund community engagement and targeted research.
Introduced March 25, 2026 by Tina Smith · Last progress March 25, 2026
Authorizes new grant programs, data reviews, research, and a Tribal-focused study to improve how maternal deaths and severe maternal morbidity are identified, measured, and addressed. It funds State and Tribal maternal mortality review committees to increase representative community engagement, directs HHS to review and recommend improvements to maternal health data systems and quality measures, and supports research at minority-serving institutions and a focused study on American Indian and Alaska Native maternal outcomes. The bill sets specific funding authorizations (multi-year amounts), requires HHS to consult a broad set of stakeholders, mandates reports on findings and outcomes, and defines key maternal health terms used throughout the law.