Congress quietly funds maternal death prevention — but equity gaps remain
H.R. 1909 — Preventing Maternal Deaths Reauthorization Act of 2025 · Filed by Buddy Carter (R-GA) · 23 cosponsors · Introduced Mar 6, 2025 · Referred to committee
Your members of Congress
Enter a ZIP to see where your representative and both senators stood on this bill.
Looked up on this device — your ZIP is never stored on our servers.
What it does
This bill reauthorizes and expands federal support for state maternal mortality review committees, which investigate pregnancy-related deaths to identify prevention opportunities. It requires the CDC to annually disseminate best practices on preventing maternal deaths to hospitals and quality-improvement organizations, and increases federal funding from $58 million to $100 million annually for fiscal years 2025–2029.
Why we flagged it
The bill extends and expands an existing federal maternal health surveillance and prevention program, increasing funding and clarifying committee composition and coordination requirements. It is a straightforward reauthorization with modest structural improvements.
What the text implies
- Explicit inclusion of obstetricians and gynecologists in committee membership may shift review focus toward clinical practice patterns and hospital protocols, potentially increasing scrutiny of provider decision-making in maternal deaths.
- New requirement for CDC to coordinate with 'death certifiers' and amend cause-of-death information on certificates may improve data quality for maternal mortality tracking but could create friction with state vital-statistics offices over authority to modify death records.
The full analysis lists 3 implications of this text.
Who stands to gain
State health departments (maternal mortality review committee funding); CDC and HRSA (expanded program administration); Hospitals and perinatal quality collaboratives (recipients of best-practice guidance and potential q