Bipartisan Rural MOMS Act aims to improve maternal care

Bipartisan legislation introduced in the Senate would support telehealth grants and training for rural providers in an effort to improve maternal care in rural communities. The bill, S.3568, would modernize maternal and obstetric services for pregnant women in rural areas by amending the Public Health Service Act to account for geography as an impediment to care. Many rural hospitals no longer offer birthing services, leading some women to drive long distances or forego prenatal care. “Studies have shown babies of mothers who have to travel more than an hour to give birth are more likely to require intensive care or die in the first year of their life,” said Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, one of the bill’s co-sponsors. According to the March of Dimes, 5 million women live in counties that lack access to a hospital providing obstetric care.(Alabama Political Reporter story, 8/5/19)