Underwood and Herrera Beutler Introduce Bipartisan, Bicameral Legislation to Provide Funding for Critical NIH Maternal Health Research Program

WASHINGTON – Today, Representatives Lauren Underwood (IL-14) and Jaime Herrera Beutler (WA-03) introduced the bipartisan NIH IMPROVE Act. This legislation would fund a critical National Institutes of Health (NIH) research program, the Implementing a Maternal Health and Pregnancy Outcomes Vision for Everyone (IMPROVE) Initiative. NIH launched the IMPROVE Initiative to better understand factors that lead to adverse maternal health outcomes and inequities. However, the research program lacks a sustained funding source. The NIH IMPROVE Act would address this by authorizing $30 million per year for the program, providing steady funding for the next five years so that NIH can continue to carry out life-saving maternal health research.

"We must invest in comprehensive research and evidence-based solutions to save moms' lives and advance birth equity," said Underwood. "The bipartisan NIH IMPROVE Act would advance maternal health research by providing funding for the IMPROVE Initiative, ensuring the NIH can continue to carry out life-saving research to end our nation's maternal health crisis."

"Our nation continues to struggle with high rates of maternal mortality, and what's most disheartening is that a majority of these deaths are preventable. That's why I'm pleased to have helped introduce this legislation to improve life-saving maternal health research, with the ultimate goal of saving more moms' lives," said Herrera Beutler.

The United States has the highest rate of pregnancy-related mortality of any high-income country and the majority of these deaths are preventable. There are significant racial and ethnic disparities in outcomes: the maternal mortality rates for Black and Native American communities are two to four times higher than the rate for white Americans, and studies show that Hispanic and Asian American and Pacific Islander communities also experience elevated rates of maternal mortality and severe maternal morbidity.

Underwood is a co-founder and co-chair of the Black Maternal Health Caucus. The Caucus has championed IMPROVE since its establishment in 2019 and secured $30 million for IMPROVE through the government funding package for fiscal year 2022, the first ever designated appropriation for this research initiative at NIH. The NIH IMPROVE Act builds on the progress made by the Black Maternal Health Caucus to advance research that will end disparities in maternal health outcomes and save moms' lives.

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