Maternal Health Pandemic Response Act

Key Points

• The bill authorizes $190 million across four CDC and NIH programs to collect data, conduct surveillance, and research how pandemics and infectious diseases affect pregnant and postpartum people and their babies.
• The largest chunk, $100 million, goes to the CDC's Surveillance for Emerging Threats to Mothers and Babies program, which would partner with public health and community organizations and create regional centers of excellence in areas with high maternal mortality.
• The government would be required to publicly release data on maternal health outcomes during emergencies, updated at least monthly, broken down by race, ethnicity, gender, language, geography, and socioeconomic status.
• A federal task force would develop recommendations for respectful maternity care during emergencies, covering topics from telehealth and midwife training to doula coverage under Medicaid and mental health screening.
• The bill focuses heavily on racial and ethnic health equity, requiring that data collection, research priorities, and task force membership all center communities with the highest rates of maternal mortality and morbidity.