Another Momnibus Bill, Underwood’s Bipartisan NIH IMPROVE Act, Passes House

WASHINGTON – This week, Rep. Lauren Underwood’s bipartisan NIH IMPROVE Act to ensure consistent funding for research on disparities in maternal care and mortality passed the House with unanimous support. The legislation is co-led by Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA).

The NIH IMPROVE Act is part of the Momnibus, a comprehensive package of 14 pieces of legislation designed to address every clinical and nonclinical driver of our nation’s maternal health crisis.

“80% of maternal deaths are preventable—and the NIH IMPROVE Initiative is a key tool to stop them. I am so pleased that this critical legislation for moms and families has passed the House. The Momnibus continues to make incredible progress, and this leap puts us one step closer to seeing the entire package signed into law,” said Rep. Underwood. “Since 2019, IMPROVE has invested more than $200 million in life-saving research that will help end our nation’s maternal health crisis, which disproportionately impacts Black moms. This bipartisan legislation will advance maternal health research by permanently authorizing funding for this initiative and make sure NIH can continue this critical work.”

In early 2019, Co-Chairs Adams and Underwood met with then-Director Francis Collins of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to urge the agency to do more to prioritize research that will help solve our maternal health crisis. In response, NIH launched the Implementing a Maternal Health and Pregnancy Outcomes Vision for Everyone (IMPROVE) Initiative later that year. Since then, Rep. Underwood has increased funding for the program five-fold through the appropriations process. For more information and a complete list of awards, click here. 

The IMPROVE Initiative supports research to reduce preventable causes of maternal deaths, understand and reduce disparities, and improve health care for women before, during, and after pregnancy. It includes a special emphasis on health disparities and populations that are disproportionately affected, such as racial and ethnic minorities, very young women and women of advanced maternal age, and people with disabilities. 

However, this critical research program lacks a sustained funding source, threatening research outcomes and conclusions. The NIH IMPROVE Act would authorize $63.4 million annually for six years to carry out the IMPROVE Initiative and support research on potential causes of maternal mortality and severe morbidity. This funding would be used to target disparities associated with maternal mortality and severe morbidity, reduce preventable causes of maternal deaths, and build an evidence base for improved care and outcomes in underserved maternal care deserts.   

###