Bill > S4550

This bill, titled the "Maternal Health Pandemic Response Act," aims to improve maternal and infant health outcomes during public health emergencies by authorizing significant funding for data collection, surveillance, and research. Specifically, it allocates funds to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) for programs like "Surveillance for Emerging Threats to Mothers and Babies" to provide updated guidance, partner with health departments to collect and analyze data on the impact of emergencies on pregnant and postpartum individuals, especially from minority groups, and establish centers of excellence. Additional funding is directed to the "ERASE MM program" to enhance reviews of maternal deaths and provide technical assistance to review committees, and to the "Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System" (PRAMS) to create a supplement for public health emergencies, add questions about respectful maternity care, and transition to an electronic platform with a focus on underrepresented communities. The bill also authorizes funds for the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development to research interventions for these emergencies, with a focus on groups experiencing higher rates of maternal mortality and disparities. Furthermore, it mandates the public availability of collected data on pregnant and postpartum individuals during public health emergencies, ensuring it is disaggregated by various demographic factors and protected for privacy, and requires the CDC to conduct public health education campaigns and establish a task force to develop federal recommendations for safe, respectful, and empowering maternity care during such emergencies, with a broad membership including patients, providers, and experts. The bill also defines key terms like "maternal mortality," "perinatal health worker," and "respectful maternity care" to ensure clarity in its implementation.