Bill > S3254

This bill establishes the IMPROVE Initiative within the National Institutes of Health (NIH), a program designed to enhance maternal health research and outcomes. The initiative aims to reduce preventable causes of maternal mortality and severe maternal morbidity, address health disparities affecting populations with high maternal mortality rates, and improve health for pregnant and postpartum women. Specifically, the NIH will use an integrated approach to understand biological, behavioral, and other factors contributing to maternal health challenges, implement community-based interventions for disproportionately affected women, and identify risk factors and underlying biological mechanisms related to maternal mortality. The bill authorizes the NIH Director to award grants, contracts, and cooperative agreements to support this work, with $73.4 million appropriated annually from fiscal years 2026 through 2031. The IMPROVE Initiative (which stands for Implementing a Maternal health and PRegnancy Outcomes Vision for Everyone) represents a comprehensive effort to address maternal health disparities and improve health outcomes for women before, during, and after pregnancy.