As the U.S. faces the highest rate of maternal deaths among wealthy nations, a bipartisan campaign is pledging $100 million over the next five years to cut rates in half. It comes as the Trump administration shifts focus to providing IVF and other fertility research, and away from postpartum maternal care.
Healthy Moms, Healthy Babies America, founded by philanthropists Olivia and Tom Walton, made the pledge Thursday, saying moms in America are facing maternal health that is “bad and getting worse.”
“There’s just so much bipartisan consensus around wanting to fix this,” Olivia Walton told The Associated Press. “I really think the political will is there and part of our job is to help surface that with an information campaign.”
Download the Straight Arrow app today to get the stories that matter free from manipulation, bias or agenda.™
Point phone camera here
Mortality rates in the US
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, in 2024, the U.S. maternal mortality rate sat at 17.9 deaths per 100,000 moms. It wasn’t significantly lower than the previous year, which saw a rate of 18.6.
That year, 669 women died of maternal causes in the U.S. The number for Black mothers was significantly higher, with approximately 44.8 deaths per 100,000 live births.
Rates also vary by ethnicity and age group, but one thing remains true: the U.S. rate is highest among wealthy nations.
The Commonwealth Fund looked at 2022 maternal mortality rates across the U.S., Australia, Canada, France, Germany, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom.
It found that U.S. rates were more than double, and sometimes triple, those of other countries. In half the countries, there were fewer than five maternal deaths per 100,000 live births.
The Commonwealth Fund also noted that two-thirds of U.S. deaths were likely preventable, pointing specifically to postpartum care as a key factor. That care includes mandatory paid parental leave and postpartum checkups.
“In the United States, which spends more on health care than any other high-income country, but has much worse maternal health outcomes, policymakers and delivery system leaders could learn a lot from international models of maternity care, including those related to postpartum support and workforce composition,” the Commonwealth Fund says.
A maternal health care crisis
Meanwhile, the March of Dimes, a nonprofit that focuses on improving the health of mothers and babies, says the U.S. is facing a maternal health care crisis.
A report from the nonprofit found that 1 in every 3 U.S. counties has no obstetric clinician. It also noted that many of the country’s OB/GYNs and family doctors who deliver babies are leaving the workforce.
The March of Dimes also found that in the past five years there’s been an uptick in hospitals closing their obstetrics units for a number of reasons — from staff shortages in the wake of the pandemic to low birth volumes.
The new initiative
According to the AP, the new five-year pledge and initiative will focus on expanding access to maternal care in rural areas. It will include efforts to train midwives and expand postpartum care using strategies that have proved successful across U.S. states.
Healthy Moms, Healthy Babies America President Dr. Neel Shah told the AP that states like California and New Jersey have significantly lowered their own maternal mortality rates by combining strategies with investments.
“A mother’s safety shouldn’t depend on her zip code, her race, or where she gives birth. We need to modernize care delivery, strengthen the maternal health workforce and scale integrated care teams, including midwives and doulas, so high-quality care becomes the standard nationwide,” Shah said in a press release.
Olivia Walton said states are at the helm of making changes, pointing out that Medicaid pays for 40% of births. She said the investment aims to encourage other states to match the investment and focus on maternal mortality.
The Trump administration’s focus shifts to IVF
Meanwhile, the Trump administration has shifted its focus to IVF and other fertility issues, canceling postpartum grants.
Earlier this month, the Department of Health and Human Services terminated more than half of its existing grants, saying they didn’t align with the administration’s new priorities on infertility.
Among them were grantees that provided postpartum home visits and addressed maternal and infant mortality, specifically among minorities. The Washington Sun reports that all the funds came from the Office of Minority Health and also addressed things like cancer screenings, high blood pressure, suicide prevention and obesity.
HHS said future grants will go toward research aligned with the administration’s priorities: the “root causes” of infertility and the promotion of physical activity and exercise.
Round out your reading
- Lawyer says 57 Cornell frat members were in the group chat. Could their silence be a crime?
- Florida county discovers mysterious Flock cameras with no obvious owner.
- Off Script: They won their primaries on one message. Now it’s disappearing.
- Some question whether a popular affordable housing policy is making the nation’s home shortage worse.
- Kelvin wave incoming: Why the US should care.
