Senator Reverend Warnock pressed Senate Appropriators to fully fund programs that improve maternal health outcomes, especially for Black, Latina, Indigenous, and individuals living in rural areas.
Senator Warnock has previously introduced legislation to strengthen and expand maternal health research efforts
Georgia has one of the highest maternal mortality rates in the country
Washington, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Reverend Raphael Warnock (D-GA) led 10 Senate colleagues in pushing Senate leadership to prioritize addressing maternal mortality and morbidity, and to fully fund programs to ensure these initiatives can fulfill their goal of improving maternal health outcomes, especially for Black, Latina, and Indigenous individuals, and those living in rural areas.
“According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), approximately 700 women die each year from pregnancy-related complications, and the rate of maternal deaths remains high. According to CDC, data show a nearly twofold increase in pregnancy-related deaths from 2019 to 2021. More than 80% of these pregnancy-related deaths in the United States are preventable,” the Senators said.
“Black, Latina, and Indigenous individuals and women living in rural areas are more likely to die due to pregnancy-related causes than their white and urban-dwelling peers. To help address disparities in maternal health outcomes and improve maternal health across the country, investing in programs authorized by the Maternal Health Quality Improvement Act and the Rural MOMS Act in FY 2026 is critical,” they continued.
Senator Reverend Warnock has championed efforts to combat maternal mortality since coming to the Senate, including introducing the Kira Johnson Act to support bias training and data collection. Senator Warnock has also partnered with former Senator Rubio (R-FL) to pass into law the Maternal Health Quality Improvement Act which authorized new grant programs to reduce maternal mortality and improve implicit bias training for providers. He most recently introduced the Dads Matter Act with Senators Marshall (R-KS) and Gallego (D-AZ) to address the roles that father play in improving maternal and infant health. Additionally, the Senator continues to be a strong advocate for closing the Medicaid coverage gap in Georgia, so that more than 640,000 Georgians can access affordable health care. Expanding Medicaid would improve the maternal mortality rate, especially for Black women according to the Georgetown University Health Policy Institute Center for Children and Families.
In addition to Senator Warnock, the letter was signed by U.S. Senators Tina Smith (D-MN), Alex Padilla (D-CA), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Ben Ray Lujan (D-NM), Mark Kelly (D-AZ), Michael F. Bennet (D-CO), Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), Ron Wyden (D-OR), Senator Jon Ossoff (D-GA), and Elissa Slotkin (D-MI).
Read the full letter HERE, and the text is below
Dear Chair Capito and Ranking Member Baldwin:
We thank you for investing in maternal health in Fiscal Year (FY) 2025 by enacting provisions of the Maternal Health Quality Improvement Act and the Rural Maternal and Obstetric Modernization of Services (Rural MOMS) Act, authorized in FY 2022 (P.L. 117-103). As the Subcommittee considers the FY 2026 Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies appropriations bill, we respectfully request that you fully fund these authorized programs to ensure these initiatives can fulfill their goal of improving maternal health outcomes, especially for Black, Latina, and Indigenous individuals, and those living in rural areas.
Addressing maternal mortality and morbidity must continue to be a priority. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), approximately 700 women die each year from pregnancy-related complications, and the rate of maternal deaths remains high. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), data show a nearly twofold increase in pregnancy-related deaths from 2019 to 2021. More than 80% of these pregnancy-related deaths in the United States are preventable. The maternal mortality rate among Black people is more than three times higher than that of white people, and the maternal mortality rate among American Indian and Alaska Native (Indigenous) people is more than two times that of white people. Further, more than 2.3 million women of childbearing age live in “maternity care deserts”, defined as counties with no hospitals offering obstetric care, no birth centers and no other obstetric providers. Black, Latina, and Indigenous individuals and women living in rural areas are more likely to die due to pregnancy-related causes than their white and urban-dwelling peers. To help address disparities in maternal health outcomes and improve maternal health across the country, investing in programs authorized by the Maternal Health Quality Improvement Act and the Rural MOMS Act in FY 2026 is critical.
Alliance for Innovation on Maternal Health (AIM) Program. The implementation of patient safety bundles and evidence-informed best practices have been shown to reduce preventable maternal deaths, improve maternal outcomes, and close the gap in inequitable care. The AIM program has bundles on a range of important maternal safety topics including obstetric hemorrhage, severe hypertension in pregnancy, safe reduction of primary cesarean birth, cardiac conditions in obstetrical care, maternal mental health, sepsis in obstetrical care, and care for pregnant and postpartum people with substance use disorder, as well as an obstetric emergency readiness resource kit. These bundles were designed to reduce maternal mortality and severe maternal morbidity by engaging multidisciplinary health care clinicians, public health professionals, and cross-sector stakeholders committed to improving maternal outcomes in the United States.
Ongoing work of AIM includes incorporating concepts and practices of respectful, equitable, and supportive patient care in all bundles, to support the reduction of peripartum racial and ethnic disparities. The AIM program also continues to provide technical assistance and support capacity building for any state, jurisdiction, and entity implementing the AIM program, including community health centers and Indian Health Service and tribal health care facilities. We urge the Subcommittee to support the funding level of $15.3 million for the AIM program to further support the goals of the AIM program, address maternity care deserts, improve patient outcomes, and reduce maternal mortality and severe maternal morbidity.
Training for Health Care Providers. Black women bear a disproportionate burden of maternal mortality and morbidity rates in the U.S., a burden that spans income and education levels. Research shows implicit racial bias plays a role in these stark disparities. Training health care professionals to recognize and remedy biases improves care and reduces inequities in maternal health outcomes. For FY 2026, we urge the Subcommittee to allocate $5 million to support grants for the training of health care professionals to improve the provision of racial and ethnic minority populations.
Integrated Services for Pregnant and Postpartum Women. Social determinants of health are key factors in caring for obstetric patients. Individuals with unmet social needs, such as housing, food access, and transportation, are more likely to have negative health outcomes. Patient-centered, integrated health services models can connect obstetric patients to needed social services and supports as well as ensure coordination among clinical care service providers, including providers of mental health and substance use disorder services. We encourage you to provide $10 million in FY 2026, consistent with the enacted FY 2024, to foster the development, demonstration, and evaluation of models of care to improve maternal health outcomes in the United States by increasing access to quality, equitable, comprehensive care for pregnant and postpartum people who experience health disparities and have limited access to basic social and health care services.
Rural Obstetric Network Grants. Pregnant individuals residing in rural areas experience maternal mortality rates of up to almost twice the rate of individuals in urban areas. The inequity is especially concerning given the decline of obstetric care facilities in these rural areas. To address the unique needs of pregnant and postpartum people living in rural areas, the Subcommittee should fund the rural obstetric network grant program at the authorized amount of $3 million in FY 2026. These grants will help identify and implement innovative strategies to improve maternity care, access to care, and collaboration between health care settings in rural areas, frontier areas, maternity care health professional target areas, or tribal entities.
Rural Maternal and Obstetric Care Training Demonstration Program. To address the growing shortage of obstetric health care professionals serving rural areas, we urge the Subcommittee to support the allocation of $5 million in FY 2026, consistent with the FY 2022 authorized funding level, to facilitate a new demonstration program aimed at increasing the number of rural-based clinicians able to provide prenatal, labor and delivery, and postpartum care, with a special emphasis on health conditions and social determinants of health affecting the rural population. Investing in the Rural Maternal and Obstetric Care Training Demonstration Program will strengthen the effort to address this urgent need.
The programs outlined above are foundational to improving maternity care for populations disproportionately impacted by maternal mortality and morbidity. We urge you to continue to invest in these critical programs and include the Maternal Health Quality Improvement Act and the Rural MOMS Act in the FY 2026 appropriations bill. Thank you for your consideration of this request and your work to address the nation’s maternal health crisis.
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