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AHA letter expressing support for the Helping Medicaid Offer Maternity Services Act (H.R. 4996) that would give states the option to extend Medicaid and Children’s Health Insurance Program coverage for pregnant and postpartum women from the current 60 days to one year after birth, with a 5% increase in the Federal Medical Assistance Percentage for the first year a state opts to extend the coverage. It also would require the Medicaid and CHIP Payment and Access Commission to issue a report on access to doula care in Medicaid.

The House Energy and Commerce Health Subcommittee today approved two bipartisan bills to strengthen maternal care and access to care, including in rural areas.  

Three hospitals teamed up with other community groups to implement local interventions that help promote women’s health and reduce infant mortality gaps.

The Joint Commission last week issued an advisory reviewing its new hospital accreditation standards for preventing maternal hemorrhage and severe hypertension/preeclampsia effective July 1, 2020.

Henry Ford's Women-Inspired Neighborhood program combines the expertise of community health workers with that of certified nurse midwives to connect patients with social services and community support, ultimately reducing preventable infant deaths.

Only one in three U.S. pregnant women receive both the flu and whooping cough vaccines as recommended, according to a Vital Signs report released today by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The hepatitis C infection rate among women giving birth rose 400% between 2000 and 2015 to 4.1 per 1,000 deliveries, according to a study of hospital discharge data released today by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The AHA invites hospitals and health systems to participate in the Better Maternal Outcomes Rapid Improvement Network, a free six-month program focused on maternal outcomes and respectful care.

The AHA this week sponsored two sessions at the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation’s 2019 Annual Legislative Conference.

HRSA today awarded states, territories and nonprofit organizations $351 million to provide voluntary home visiting services to pregnant women and parents with young children through its Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting Program.

Through the AHA’s Better Health for Mothers and Babies initiative, we invite hospitals and health systems to participate in the Better Maternal Outcomes Rapid Improvement Network – a free, six-month program focused on maternal outcomes and respectful care.

The House Energy & Commerce Subcommittee on Health today held a hearing to discuss four bills intended to improve maternal health outcomes by advancing prevention efforts and access to care. 

On behalf of our nearly 5,000 member hospitals, health systems and other health care organizations, our clinician partners – including more than 270,000 affiliated physicians, 2 million nurses and other caregivers – and the 43,000 health care leaders who belong to our professional membership groups, the ºÚÁÏÕýÄÜÁ¿ Association (AHA) commends the Committee on Energy and Commerce for its efforts to examine legislation to improve maternal health.

The AHA invites hospitals and health systems to participate in the Better Maternal Outcomes Rapid Improvement Network — a free, six-month program focused on maternal outcomes and respectful care.

Black, American Indian and Alaska Native women are two to three times more likely to die from pregnancy-related causes than white women, and this disparity increases with age, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention researchers reported today.

The latest Joint Commission R3 (Requirement, Rationale, Reference) Report describes changes to two maternal safety standards accredited hospitals must meet.

What do New York-Presbyterian, Henry Ford Health System of Detroit, and Children’s Hospital Los Angeles all have in common?  

In an op-ed for Fierce Healthcare, Robyn Begley, AHA chief nursing officer and CEO for its American Organization for Nursing Leadership, discusses how hospitals and health systems are redoubling our efforts to make sure women have safe pregnancies and positive health outcomes. For more on the AHA’s Better Health for Mothers and Babies initiative, visit /better-health-for-mothers-and-babies. 

On this AHA Advancing Health Podcast, Jay Bhatt, AHA senior vice president and chief medical officer, and obstetrician-gynecologist Sharmila Makhija, M.D., discuss the AHA Institute for Diversity and Health Equity’s goal of eliminating maternal health disparities, including lowering maternal mortality rates for black women.

Infants may be 4% to 147% more likely to be admitted to a neonatal intensive care unit if their mothers were exposed to high levels of air pollution the week before they were born, depending on the type of pollution.