§254c–1b Rural obstetric network grants

Summary

The Secretary must give grants or cooperative agreements to eligible local health providers to set up or keep "rural obstetric networks." These networks must help improve the health of mothers and babies and reduce preventable deaths and serious health problems by making prenatal, birth, and postpartum care better and easier to get in rural, frontier, medically underserved, and Tribal areas. Grants can be used to build networks that improve care coordination and access, use proven care models (including home visits and culturally appropriate care), add telehealth and partnerships between care sites, train staff where specialty maternity care is missing, work with universities to find and fix barriers, and measure and reduce health disparities. Key terms: eligible entities — providers of prenatal, birth, and postpartum care in rural, frontier, or medically underserved areas or for Tribal communities; frontier area — a frontier county; Indian Tribe/Tribal organization — as defined in federal law; maternity care health professional target area — as defined elsewhere in federal law. By September 30, 2026, the Secretary must send Congress a report describing the funded activities and analyzing the networks’ effects on maternal and infant health. Up to $3,000,000 is authorized each year for fiscal years 2023 through 2027 to run this program.