On February 3, Congress passed and the President signed into law H.R. 7148, the Consolidated Appropriations Act, which includes funding levels for the Federal Fiscal Year 2026 (FFY26) Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies (LHHS). These funding levels will continue through September 30, 2026.
The appropriations measure provides critical funding for key maternal and child health (MCH) programs, though funding levels fall short of the investments needed to address the nation’s maternal and infant mortality crisis. As of 2023, the maternal mortality rate (MMR) was 18.3 deaths per 100,000 live births, representing a decrease in the overall rate from 22.3 deaths per 100,000 live births in 2022. Notably, the MMR decreased for every race except for Black mothers, which slightly increased in 2023 to 50.3 deaths per 100,000 live births. In 2022 (latest year for final data), the infant mortality rate was 5.6 deaths per 1,000 live births and over 20,500 babies died that year.
Select MCH provisions included as part of the LHHS section of this “mini-bus” bill include:
- $818.70 million for the Title V Maternal and Child Health (MCH) Services Block Grant – a modest increase overall, with level funding for state grants and additional funds dedicated to Special Projects of Regional and National Significance (SPRANS).
- $145.25 million for Healthy Start – restoring funding after proposed cuts in earlier appropriations bills.
- $113.50 million for CDC’s Safe Motherhood and Infant Health (SMIH) portfolio – maintaining support for critical surveillance and prevention activities such as the Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System (PRAMS), perinatal quality collaboratives (PQCs), and maternal mortality review committees (MMRCs).
- $23 million for CDC’s Surveillance for Emerging Threats to Mothers and Babies (SET-NET) – continuing surveillance of emerging health threats during pregnancy
- $5 million for the Newborn Essentials Supplies Toolkits (NEST) Act – a collaboration with hospitals, federally qualified health centers, and community organizations that provides supplies to families for the first few weeks after delivery
- $8 million for the National Maternal Mental Health Hotline– a free hotline for pregnant and postpartum women for mental health support by professional counselors in English and Spanish
- $12 million for the Maternal Mental Health and Substance Use Disorders (MMH-SUD) Program – helps expand the capacity of perinatal health care providers to screen, assess, treat, and refer pregnant and postpartum women for substance use disorder-related treatment.
- Reauthorization of the Prematurity Research Expansion and Education for Mothers who deliver Infants Early (PREEMIE) Act programs that support research and interventions to reduce preterm births
- Reauthorization of the Preventing Maternal Deaths Act – ensuring continued federal support for maternal mortality review committees.
While maternal and infant health remain a needed priority, the documented inequities in maternal and infant health outcomes among Black and Indigenous women and their White counterparts persist. We have used previous Say Ahhh! Posts to track progress on maternal health priorities outlined in the Black Maternal Health Momnibus Act. Several funded programs directly implement Momnibus provisions that have been enacted. The Black Maternal Health Caucus’s Momnibus Money Tracker documents how federal appropriations support pieces of the comprehensive Momnibus agenda, even as the full package awaits future action. In FFY23-25, federal appropriations provided more than $200 million in maternal health-related funding thanks in large part to the leadership of the Black Maternal Health Caucus. This year’s appropriations levels continue this progress, but a significantly larger investment is needed to achieve the Momnibus vision of eliminating preventable maternal mortality, and addressing stark racial disparities in maternal health outcomes.
The final appropriations measure also invests in rural maternal health infrastructure to address maternity care deserts, and establishes new maternity care reporting requirements for rural hospitals, along with funding to help them comply.
Overall, the FFY26 appropriations act represents maintenance of the nation’s commitment to maternal health programs in a politically challenging environment. We will continue to monitor how these funds are used by HHS, particularly at CDC and HRSA.