Sponsors (63)
Official title: To end preventable maternal mortality and severe maternal morbidity in the United States and close disparities in maternal health outcomes, and for other purposes.
Introduced March 25, 2026 by Alma Adams · Last progress March 25, 2026
The bill aims to reduce maternal health disparities—especially for racial and ethnic minorities—by expanding services, workforce development, and accountability, but it increases federal spending, imposes administrative burdens, and may have limited reach or slow implementation without sustained funding and robust data safeguards.
Pregnant and postpartum people from racial/ethnic minority groups and low-income communities will gain expanded community-based maternal health services and grant-funded programs that aim to improve access and equity in maternity care.
Pregnant and postpartum people will have an extended postpartum period covered in policy (up to one year) and maternal mortality definitions will include suicide, overdose, and SUD-related deaths, increasing continuity of care and attention to perinatal mental health and substance use treatment.
Healthcare workforce capacity will be strengthened through investments in midwifery, doulas, perinatal health workers, training, CEU programs, and university pipelines, improving culturally and linguistically congruent care and local provider availability.
Federal spending will increase (authorized amounts and open-ended "such sums as necessary" grants), which raises budgetary costs for taxpayers and could pressure appropriations for other priorities.
Limited authorized funding levels and competitive grant processes could constrain national scale and tend to favor larger institutions or academic pipelines, reducing reach to smaller community-based organizations and the hardest-hit communities.
Hospitals, clinics, and community providers (especially smaller ones) will face added administrative and compliance burdens—applying for grants, collecting/deidentifying/reporting data, and running new programs—which can strain staff and resources.
Based on analysis of 7 sections of legislative text.
Authorizes grants, studies, and reporting to reduce bias and advance culturally congruent, trauma-informed maternity care and to fund community-based maternal health equity programs.
Creates multiple HHS grant programs, studies, and reporting requirements to reduce bias and improve outcomes in maternity care. It funds community-based organizations and health care facilities to expand culturally congruent, trauma-informed, and respectful maternity care, with emphasis on groups experiencing higher maternal mortality and severe maternal morbidity. Requires outreach, technical assistance, evaluations, and federal studies (via the National Academies and GAO) to identify effective practices and measure progress; authorizes funding primarily for grant programs from FY2027 through FY2031 (and related evaluations through FY2032).