HRSA Announces $15 Million in New Investments to Address Maternal Health Needs and Disparities in Rural Communities

HRSA is making nearly $8 million in Rural MOMS awards and launching a new program with approximately $7 million in available funding to address maternal health needs in the South and Midwest

Today, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS) Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) announced a combined investment of $15 million over four years through the Rural Maternity and Obstetrics Management Strategies (Rural MOMS) Program to improve maternal health in rural communities and a new program focused on strengthening maternal care and reducing disparities in the Delta region (within Alabama, Arkansas, Illinois, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, and Tennessee). HRSA Deputy Administrator Jordan Grossman highlighted these strategic investments today in Flagstaff, AZ, during the third state convening of HRSA’s Enhancing Maternal Health Initiative.

“Addressing the unacceptable rate of maternal mortality and morbidity in the United States is one of the Biden-Harris Administration’s top priorities,” said HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra. “These investments in expanding access to maternal care in high-need rural communities are essential to helping mothers and their babies thrive.”

“Pregnant women and new moms in rural areas face unique challenges in accessing maternal care services that can include long travel distance to their health care providers,” said HRSA Deputy Administrator Jordan Grossman. “This is why we are committed to investing in innovative strategies to build and sustain maternity care in rural communities across the country.”

The Rural MOMS Program awardees announced today will each receive start-up funding of almost $4 million over four years to test out new approaches to support, enhance, and expand access to maternal care, including obstetric care, in rural communities. The Rural MOMS Program focuses on a network model-approach to coordinate care across rural hospitals, medical centers, community health centers and rural health clinics.

HRSA’s new Delta Region Maternal Care Coordination Program will expand access and coordination of health care services before, during, and after pregnancy in the Delta region of the South and Midwest. The funding will work to address unacceptable rates of maternal morbidity and mortality in the region. HRSA expects to award up to four cooperative agreements to recipients in the Delta region, totaling approximately $7 million over four years.

HRSA’s Enhancing Maternal Health Initiative is focused on accelerating HRSA’s maternal health work to address maternal mortality and maternal health disparities in partnership with women, grantees, community organizations, and state and local health officials across the country.

This funding builds on HRSA’s ongoing investments to enhance maternal health in rural and underserved communities across the country, including:

• $105 million in recent Healthy Start awards to improve the health of moms and infants living in high-need communities across the country.
• $65 million to health centers this past year to address the maternal health crisis and help enable healthier pregnancy and postpartum outcomes for all.
• $8 million to grow the maternity care workforce and expand access to care by supporting nurse midwifery programs at 10 universities through our MatCare program.

To learn more about the Rural MOMS program, visit: https://www.hrsa.gov/rural-health/grants/rural-community/rmoms.

For more information on HRSA’s maternal health work, visit: www.hrsa.gov/maternal-health.