POLICY PRIORITIES

PUBLIC POLICY PRIORITIES

The Preeclampsia Foundation's advocacy priorities are focused on supporting efforts to reduce maternal and infant illness and death due to preeclampsia, HELLP syndrome, and other hypertensive disorders of pregnancy. Our advocacy objectives are centered on providing patient support and education, raising public awareness, increasing research investment, and improving healthcare practices and quality.

The advocacy agenda includes:

• Improving patient and provider awareness about preeclampsia signs and symptoms and how to respond
• Improving policymaker awareness about preeclampsia and other hypertensive disorders of pregnancy
• Growing investment in preeclampsia research and its connection to short- and long-term health risks
• Collaborating with state and federal agencies to improve healthcare quality by improving the maternal mortality and morbidity review process
• Advancing efforts to discover new screening and diagnostic tools and treatments

Our most successful legislative initiative, Act 2 Save Moms, resulted in the passage of the Preventing Maternal Deaths Act bill, signed into law on December 18, 2018. Details can be found here. We continue to advocate for appropriations for this law on an annual basis. We also supported the 21st Century Cures Act, which has had far-reaching impact on our community.

Our current focus:

Now we are focused on supporting the Momnibus Act, a group of nine bills lead by the Black Maternal Health Caucus.  You can read more about what’s included in those bills and why the Preeclampsia Foundation supports them here.

A full list of maternal health-related bills can be found using the Association of Maternal and Child Health Programs (AMCHP) Maternal Health Bill Tracker here.

Improving Patient and Provider Awareness

The Preeclampsia Foundation is encouraging states to utilize educational materials that can help women, their families, and their healthcare providers recognize and appropriately respond to symptoms of preeclampsia. For example, California and New York have distributed Preeclampsia Foundation resources to hundreds of hospitals across their states to improve patient and provider awareness of and responsiveness to preeclampsia symptoms.

Raising Public and Policymaker Awareness

May is recognized by the federal government as Preeclampsia Awareness Month, having received a formal designation in 2013. Each year, members of Congress, governors, state legislators, and mayors across the country speak out in support of improving preeclampsia awareness, enhancing research investment, and ensuring pregnant women have access to the care they need.

Increasing Research Investment

The Preeclampsia Foundation continues to pursue efforts that support federal investment in clinical research at the National Institutes of Health to address preeclampsia and other hypertensive disorders of pregnancy.

In 2013, the Foundation launched The Preeclampsia Registry, a living database bringing together valuable information from those affected by preeclampsia, their family members, and researchers to advance knowledge and discover preventions and treatments for preeclampsia and other hypertensive disorders of pregnancy.

Improving Healthcare Practices and Quality

Working state-by-state with partners, the Preeclampsia Foundation strives to improve the maternal mortality and morbidity review process, and ensure that patients and their families have a voice in that process. Efforts are focused on data collection that can lead to quality improvements in the maternal healthcare delivery process.

Discovering New Diagnostics and Treatments

The Preeclampsia Foundation supports policies that encourage the development of new biomarkers and treatments to manage preeclampsia and other hypertensive disorders of pregnancy.