Bills to reduce premature births and deaths from childbirth passed Tuesday among healthcare measures advanced by voice vote in a key Senate panel.
The Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee advanced the Maternal Health Accountability Act, which would allow the federal government to support the creation of maternal mortality review committees in states. The committees are made up of epidemiologists, ob-gyns, social workers, and others to study maternal deaths and make recommendations about how they can be prevented.
It isn’t clear why deaths related to childbirth and pregnancy are happening, but the numbers appear to be rising — a trend not observed in other developed countries — and many are linked to conditions involving bleeding or high blood pressure. They are particularly high among black women.
“The numbers of mothers who die of childbirth in this country has been to high for too long, and we know too little about it,” said Sen. Patty Murray of Washington, the top Democrat on the committee.
Her amendment to give the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention more resources to study the issue was adopted by the committee.
A companion bill exists in the House but has not received a hearing. House leaders have said the bill would be considered in the House Energy and Commerce Committee’s health subcommittee after the passage of opioid-combating legislation, which happened Friday.
Another measure that passed was the Sports Licensure Medical Clarity Act, which clarifies that medical providers can be covered by their medical liability insurance providers when they travel out of state with athletes.
Sen. Lamar Alexander, chairman of the HELP Committee, said the legislation on premature births, the Prematurity Research Expansion and Education for Mothers who Deliver Infants Early Reauthorization Act, provides additional help that pregnant women will need during the opioid crisis. Women who use opioids during pregnancy risk giving birth to babies with neonatal abstinence syndrome, a condition that is not well-studied.
The bill is otherwise aimed reducing preterm births overall, which occur in roughly 10 percent of childbirths, and to improve health for those who are born pre-term.
Ivanka Trump, first daughter and senior adviser to President Trump, was present for the votes to signal the Trump administration’s support for a bill to reauthorize the Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Act, which also advanced in the HELP committee. The program provides roughly $1.2 billion in grant assistance to people who seek technical training.
