Final convening and new comprehensive report highlight year of action in strengthening maternal health and expanding access to care
Today, Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) Administrator Carole Johnson, joined by Congresswoman Lauren Underwood (D-IL), co-chair of the Black Maternal Health Caucus, announced new funding, policy action, and a comprehensive report, From Initiative to Impact (PDF - 6 MB), at the final event of the year-long Enhancing Maternal Health Initiative at HRSA headquarters. The initiative, launched in January 2024, has successfully strengthened and accelerated HRSA's maternal health work through innovative partnerships and coordinated efforts across 11 states and the District of Columbia. The initiative advances the White House Blueprint for Addressing the Maternal Health Crisis (PDF - 912 KB), and has been supported by congressional champions for maternal health.
HRSA added to the numerous policy and funding announcements made throughout the year-long initiative, with Administrator Johnson announcing today:
- $9 million in new funding to sustain and build upon the Enhancing Maternal Health Initiative’s state convenings of maternal health experts, health center patients, community organizations, individuals with lived experience, state and local health officials, and HRSA-funded grantees, including health workforce, rural health, maternal health, HIV/AIDs and other HRSA-supported grantees, to continue to foster cross-program collaborations and to share evidence-based models or promising practices that support improved maternal health.
- A new HRSA-funded review by the National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine, which will convene an expert committee to review and make recommendations regarding the clinical services necessary for preventing cardiovascular conditions among women—one of the leading causes of pregnancy-related morbidity and mortality.
"Over the past year, HRSA has put the voices of the mothers and families we serve at the forefront of our work as we hosted convenings across the country on improving maternal health outcomes," said HRSA Administrator Carole Johnson. "Through the Enhancing Maternal Health Initiative, we've launched and amplified our critical work to improve prenatal care, address postpartum depression, grow the maternal health workforce to combat maternity care deserts, strengthen the quality of maternal health care, and expand services to address health-related social needs. Yet we know that there is more to do, which is why we are announcing new initiatives today to further expand this work, including through new investments in ongoing state partnerships and new clinical work to better prevent the cardiovascular conditions that are a leading cause of maternal death. As we mark this year's achievements, we remain committed to continuing this vital work until the United States becomes the safest country in the world to give birth in."
Today, HRSA also released a final report, From Initiative to Impact, on the Enhancing Maternal Health Initiative’s work to bring together federal resources, community expertise, and lived experience to address our nation's maternal health crisis, make tangible improvements in improving maternal health outcomes, and reduce disparities through collaboration and innovation.
Throughout 2024, the initiative convened HRSA maternal health grantees across Arizona, Alabama, Georgia, Illinois, Kentucky, Maryland, Michigan, Missouri, Montana, North Carolina, Oregon, and the District of Columbia. These convenings resulted in concrete improvements in maternal health care delivery and support, including:
- New partnerships between HRSA grantee organizations to ensure seamless referrals and warm handoffs for pregnant and postpartum women.
- Enhanced maternal mental health support through widespread promotion of the National Maternal Mental Health Hotline (833-TLC-MAMA), including partnerships with companies and organizations with thousands of locations in all 50 states and Washington, DC.
- Development of innovative training resources for maternal health professionals, including new educational modules for nurse-midwifery students.
- Strengthened family-centered services that engage all family members, including fathers, in maternal health support.
- Launching new consumer-friendly tools on HRSA.gov for mothers and families to find free or low-cost services.
The initiative also highlighted significant expansion of HRSA's maternal health programs during the Biden-Harris Administration, including:
- Launching the National Maternal Mental Health Hotline (833-TLC-MAMA). The hotline provides 24/7 emotional and mental health support via call or text to expectant and new mothers and their families and has now responded to more than 50,000 contacts since its launch in 2022. HRSA has launched partnerships to promote the Hotline in everyday locations with companies and organizations with thousands of locations in all 50 states and Washington, DC.
- Expanding Home Visiting services. HRSA secured bipartisan legislation doubling funding for voluntary, evidence-based home visiting services for eligible families across the country and recently awarded over $440 million as part of this work. Through the Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting Program, local organizations can provide home visits from nurses, social workers, and other trained health workers who work with families to improve maternal and child health, child development and school readiness.
- Expanding Healthy Start services. HRSA recently invested $105 million in community-based organizations to improve maternal and infant health across the country through Healthy Start. Healthy Start funding will better support moms and babies to improve health in communities experiencing high disparities in maternal and infant health outcomes.
- Growing and diversifying the perinatal workforce, including doulas. HRSA has increased the number of obstetrician-gynecologists (OB/GYNs), nurses, midwives, doulas, and community health workers, especially in places without them, through grants, scholarships, and loan repayment. For example, HRSA launched new programs to train more nurse midwives who reflect the communities they serve, train, and deploy more community-based doulas, and support the training of more nurse practitioners with a focus on maternal health, including in underserved and rural areas.
- Investing in new community health center efforts to address maternal health disparities. HRSA invested more than $65 million in 35 HRSA-funded health centers across the country to implement innovative approaches to improve maternal health outcomes and reduce disparities for patients at highest risk.
- Supporting maternal health care in rural communities. HRSA funds the Rural Maternity and Obstetrics Management Strategies (Rural MOMS) Program to increase access to maternal and obstetrics care in rural communities and improve health outcomes for mothers and infants. HRSA also awarded nearly $9 million over four years to five organizations to expand access to and coordinate health care services before, during, and after pregnancy in rural communities in the South.
- Spurring new efforts to identify and address key drivers of maternal mortality tailored to individual state needs through the State Maternal Health Innovation program, including by funding State Maternal Health Task Forces that bring together health care providers, policymakers, patients, payers, and other stakeholders to develop shared solutions specific to their state’s needs and to better support pregnant women and new moms.
- Launching a new research network that will support minority serving institutions of higher learning to study the disparities in maternal health outcomes and identify effective methods and strategies for addressing them through an investment of $50 million over five years.
- Reaching a milestone of nearly 2,000 birthing facilities participating in the HRSA-supported Alliance for Innovation on Maternal Health to help medical facilities adopt proven, HRSA-supported best practices to make childbirth safer.
- Creating the first ever obstetrics and gynecology Rural Track residency program in the country, as well as supporting the development of six additional family medicine residency programs with enhanced obstetrical training in rural communities.
Read the From Initiative to Impact (PDF - 6 MB) report on HRSA’s Enhancing Maternal Health Initiative.
For more information on the National Maternal Mental Health Hotline and to download new promotional materials, visit: https://mchb.hrsa.gov/programs-impact/national-maternal-mental-health-hotline.
For more information about HRSA's maternal health programs and initiatives, visit https://www.hrsa.gov/maternal-health