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Only one in three U.S. pregnant women receive both the flu and whooping cough vaccines as recommended, according to a Vital Signs report released today by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The hepatitis C infection rate among women giving birth rose 400% between 2000 and 2015 to 4.1 per 1,000 deliveries, according to a study of hospital discharge data released today by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The AHA invites hospitals and health systems to participate in the Better Maternal Outcomes Rapid Improvement Network, a free six-month program focused on maternal outcomes and respectful care.

The AHA this week sponsored two sessions at the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation’s 2019 Annual Legislative Conference.

HRSA today awarded states, territories and nonprofit organizations $351 million to provide voluntary home visiting services to pregnant women and parents with young children through its Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting Program.

The House Energy & Commerce Subcommittee on Health today held a

The AHA invites hospitals and health systems to participate in the Better Maternal Outcomes Rapid Improvement Network — a free, six-month program focused on maternal outcomes and respectful care.

Black, American Indian and Alaska Native women are two to three times more likely to die from pregnancy-related causes than white women, and this disparity increases with age, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention researchers reported today.

What do New York-Presbyterian, Henry Ford Health System of Detroit, and Children’s Hospital Los Angeles all have in common?  

In an op-ed for Fierce Healthcare, Robyn Begley, AHA chief nursing officer and CEO for its American Organization for Nursing Leadership, discusses how hospitals and health systems are redoubling our efforts to make sure women have safe pregnancies and positive health outcomes. For more on the AHA’s Better Health for Mothers and Babies initiative, visit /better-health-for-mothers-and-babies. 

Infants may be 4% to 147% more likely to be admitted to a neonatal intensive care unit if their mothers were exposed to high levels of air pollution the week before they were born, depending on the type of pollution.

The AHA recently participated in a meeting of an American Academy of Family Physicians task force that will recommend evidence-based strategies to improve maternal health and reduce disparities in maternal morbidity and mortality.

Community-based organizations and others can apply through July 15 for funding to address maternal health disparities and improve outcomes.

Leaders of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions today released the Lower Health Care Costs Act of 2019 – bipartisan discussion draft legislation focused on reducing health care costs. Among other areas, the bill would take steps to end surprise medical bills, reduce the prices of prescription drugs, improve transparency in health care, boost public health, and improve the exchange of health information technology.

U.S. birth rates declined for the fourth consecutive year with only 3.78 million babies born in 2018, the fewest in over three decades, according to a report released this week by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The House Ways and Means Committee today held a hearing examining the impact of racial disparities and social determinants of health on maternal mortality.

The Food and Drug Administration yesterday published draft guidance to promote clinical studies to increase drug safety information for pregnant and nursing women and their providers.

Now in its third year, the March for Moms is an annual march in Washington, D.C., to urge policymakers to dedicate more funding and pass legislation to help improve maternal health in the U.S.

An estimated 31 percent of pregnancy-related deaths occur during pregnancy, 36 percent during delivery or the week after, and 33 percent one week to one year after delivery.