Today, Worker and Family Support Subcommittee
Chairman Danny K. Davis (D-IL) introduced H.R. 4768, the Home Visiting
to Reduce Maternal Mortality and Morbidity Act, legislation that would
increase funding for home visiting programs that serve pregnant women,
new mothers, and their children with the aim of lowering maternal
mortality and morbidity rates in the United States.

“Maternal mortality devastates families and communities, exacting a
particularly high price from women of color” said Worker and Family
Support Subcommittee Chairman Danny K. Davis (D-IL).  “Black women in
the U.S. experience pregnancy-related death more than any other racial
or ethnic group regardless of income or education.  Black, Native
American, and Alaska Native women are about three times more likely to
die from pregnancy-related causes than white women, and these
disparities have increased over time. We know that home visiting is a
proven tool to help improve health whether one lives in rural, urban,
or suburban communities.  The relationships built during home visits
create important support networks and connect families to services to
keep them safe and healthy.  This bill provides an important
opportunity to act to reduce rising rates of maternal mortality and
life-threatening pregnancy complications, particularly in states,
tribes, and territories with a high level of identified need for
services.  I am pleased to work with the Chairman to take this first
step toward addressing the urgent health crisis of maternal
mortality.”

The Home Visiting to Reduce Maternal Mortality and Morbidity Act would
double the federal government’s investment in the Maternal, Infant,
and Early Childhood Home Visiting program (MIECHV) by 2022, making a
proven tool to fight maternal mortality and morbidity available to
more communities across the United States. Under current law,
federally-funded home visiting services reach only about 150,000 of
the 18 million families that could benefit from home visiting.

“The United States should not be one of the most dangerous places in
the industrialized world to give birth,” said Ways and Means Committee
Chairman Richard E. Neal (D-MA), an original co-sponsor of the
legislation. “Evidence-based home visiting programs help give women
the tools they need to take the necessary steps to protect their
health during pregnancy and after childbirth. Expanding funding for
MIECHV will give more women access to supports that could be the
difference between life and death. I’ve seen the benefits these kinds
of programs have in Massachusetts, and I know that demand far outpaces
the availability of home visiting services in my district and across
the country. I thank Congressman Davis for his leadership in
addressing America’s maternal mortality crisis, and I am proud to
support this important legislation.”

The rate of deaths per 100,000 births in the United States has grown
by 1.7 percent since 1987, and three out of five of all
pregnancy-related deaths in the United States are preventable. A
national impact evaluation of the MIECHV program demonstrated that
home visiting led to improvements in women’s general health, increases
in health insurance coverage, and reductions in maternal depressive
symptoms. Specifically, the Home Visiting to Reduce Maternal Mortality
and Morbidity Act requires the U.S. Department of Health and Human
Services to provide additional funding to states, tribes, and U.S.
Territories for three purposes:

? To address rising rates of maternal mortality and life-threatening
pregnancy complications, particularly in states with a high level of
identified need for services;

? To fund unmet need for home visiting services identified in state
assessments required under the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018; and

? To provide increased allocations to states and U.S. territories
based on the most recent data on the proportion of children under age
five living in poverty.

Text of the legislation can be found HERE


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