Cassidy seeks health improvements for mothers, infants

U.S. Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA) recently cosponsored the Maternal Health Quality Improvement Act to improve the health, well-being and lives of mothers and infants.

“Louisiana has too many mothers dying during and after giving birth,” Rep. Cassidy said. “This bill supports training, resources and providers to better care for new mothers and their babies.”

Sen. Cassidy introduced the bipartisan S. 1675 with bill sponsor U.S. Rep. Raphael Warnock (D-GA). The bill would establish or continue a program to award competitive grants to eligible entities toward identifying, developing or disseminating best practices to improve maternal healthcare quality, bolster maternal and infant health outcomes, and eliminate preventable maternal mortality and severe maternal morbidity, according to the text of the bill.

The measure would authorize a grant program for innovations in reducing maternal mortality, including developing evidence-based best practices and improving maternal mortality review committee data, according to a bill summary provided by Sen. Cassidy’s staff.

If enacted, the measure also would authorize a grant program for racial and ethnic bias training for healthcare providers; create a study on best practices for teaching within health professional training programs to reduce and prevent discrimination; and expand the ability of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to award grants for perinatal quality collaboratives, among other provisions, the summary says.

Sen. Warnock added that “it’s beyond time for Congress to address the maternal health crisis that’s disproportionately killing black women and women of color in Georgia and throughout the nation, and the Maternal Health Quality Improvement Act is a critical step forward.”

The bill received support from numerous organizations, including the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, the AIDS Alliance for Women, Infants, Children, Youth and Families, the American Hospital Association, the American Nurses Association, the American Psychiatric Association, Every Mother Counts, the First Focus Campaign for Children, the March of Dimes, and the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine, among many others.