Sens. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.) have introduced the Healthy Moms and Babies Act to improve maternal and child health care. The United States has a maternal health crisis that particularly affects women of color and those living in rural America. The Healthy Moms and Babies Act builds on Grassley and Hassan’s longstanding efforts to improve maternal and child health by delivering high-quality coordinated care, supporting women and babies with 21st century technology and taking other steps to reduce maternal mortality.
The reintroduction of this legislation comes amid the release last week of concerning data demonstrating continued year-over-year increases in maternal mortality. Between 2018 and 2021, maternal mortality has increased from 17.4 per 100,000 births to 32.9 per 100,000 births according to new data from the CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics.
“We must do a better job at supporting pregnant moms and their babies,” Grassley said. “The Healthy Moms and Babies Act will enable high-quality coordinated care to our most vulnerable moms. Through 21st century technology and community-based efforts, we can prevent maternal mortality and high-risk pregnancies – regardless of a mom’s zip code or economic background. As a strong supporter of the Maternal, Infant and Early Childhood Home Visiting Program and stillbirth prevention efforts, I’ll continue working with my colleagues to help expectant families.”
“It is an outrage that in one of the richest countries on earth, women are dying during pregnancy and childbirth at increasingly alarming rates, particularly women of color. We can and must make pregnancy safer and protect women from preventable deaths. Our bipartisan bill takes important and long overdue steps to help improve care for pregnant women and their infants, and I urge my colleagues to join us in supporting this legislation that will help save lives and keep families whole,” Hassan said.
“Rural America is one of the most challenging environments for providing prenatal and OB care because people are so isolated. We’re grateful to Senator Grassley for introducing a bill that will help address these challenges. Avera has shown a long-standing commitment to serving women with a goal of healthy moms, healthy babies and healthy families. Just one example is our use of telehealth to monitor gestational diabetes in rural locations. We fully recognize that moms need access to high quality prenatal care and careful management of conditions such as high blood pressure and gestational diabetes, regardless of their zip code. Telehealth and coordinated, holistic care are important tools as we strive to help moms who cannot always afford to travel or take time off work for regular checkups,” said Kimberlee McKay, MD, Clinical Vice President of Avera’s OB-GYN Service Line. Avera, based in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, is a health system that covers a mostly rural footprint across 72,000 square miles in the Upper Midwest, with hospitals and clinics throughout northwest Iowa.
“More often than not maternal mortality is preventable with comprehensive health care. The Healthy Moms and Babies Act will provide comprehensive outcome-focused and community-based prevention and provide support to pregnant and postpartum women. When women can access timely health care and supportive services in pregnancy and postpartum , we will see better outcomes for both mother and their children. This is fundamental to population health,” said Dr. Maria Padin, Chief Medical Officer for Dartmouth Hitchcock Clinics / Southern Region.
