On Aug. 17, 2023, the National Institutes of Health announced it had awarded $24 million in first-year funding to establish Maternal Health Research Centers of Excellence. Part of NIH’s Implementing a Maternal Health and Pregnancy Outcomes Vision for Everyone initiative, the centers will develop and evaluate innovative approaches to reduce pregnancy-related complications and deaths and promote maternal health equity. The grants were expected to last seven years and total an estimated $168 million, pending the availability of funds.

Compared to other high-income countries, the United States has a high rate of maternal deaths, with more than 1,200 such deaths occurring in 2021, the most recent year for which data are available.