President Signs Critical Maternal Mortality Legislation
This is a great day for preeclampsia and the beginning of the end of needless deaths. Late last night, President Trump signed into law the Preventing Maternal Deaths Act. We are very proud and incredibly thankful! This legislation will directly impact our fight to eliminate preeclampsia, which is a leading cause of maternal mortality and morbidity.
Thank you to Congresswomen Jaime Herrera Beutler and Diana DeGette, and Senators Heidi Heitkamp and Shelley Moore Capito who led the charge on this bipartisan legislation. Thank you to all of you who tweeted, emailed, called, wrote, and petitioned our representatives to push through this critical legislation to prevent maternal deaths in this country.
This has been a long hard road for the Preeclampsia Foundation and we have been not alone in this. We are incredibly grateful for our partners American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists - ACOG, Society for Maternal Fetal Medicine, March of Dimes, AMCHP, and many others. We are incredibly thankful for all those who have been linked arm to arm with us for this initiative.
At this time, the most important thing to know is that this fight is not over! We have a lot of work ahead of us to now fight every year to get funding appropriated to fulfill this legislation.
This important bipartisan legislation is the beginning of efforts toward eradicating preventable maternal death and improving maternal and infant health in the United States. It will accelerate progress toward ensuring that every state has a high-functioning process for identifying the causes of maternal mortality and translating recommendations made by maternal mortality review committees (MMRCs) to meaningful action.
The legislation will also advance efforts among states to standardize the collection and analysis of data so that we can develop a national understanding of why mothers are dying in the United States and what it will take to reverse this tragic trend.
MMRCs are multidisciplinary groups of local experts in maternal, infant, and public health that examine cases of maternal death. Maternal mortality review is a cyclical process that does not end by simply counting and characterizing deaths, but is followed with action by putting the recommendations of the committee to work in hospitals and communities.
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