Social Determinants for Moms Act

Key Points

• The bill creates a federal task force led by the Secretary of Health and Human Services to coordinate across 17 agencies and stakeholders to reduce preventable maternal deaths, serious health complications, and health disparities tied to pregnancy and childbirth.
• The bill authorizes $100 million per year in grants from 2027 through 2031 for community organizations, Tribal groups, and health departments to tackle nonclinical factors that affect maternal health, such as housing, transportation, nutrition, and environmental conditions.
• Grant funding is prioritized for areas with high poverty rates and high rates of maternal mortality or other bad pregnancy outcomes, directing resources to the communities that need them most.
• The bill defines maternal mortality broadly to include deaths within one year after pregnancy, covering suicides, overdoses, and other deaths from mental health or substance use disorders tied to pregnancy complications. This expanded definition captures causes of death that are often missed.
• The task force will look at wide-ranging issues including access to safe housing, healthy food in food deserts, air and water quality, extreme temperatures, workplace hazards, intimate partner violence, and childcare access during medical appointments.