WASHINGTON — In her continuing fight to help provide obstetric care in the state’s and nation’s rural areas, U.S. Sen. Katie Britt joined Sens.Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.), Susan Collins (R-Maine), and Tina Smith (D-Minn.) to reintroduce their bipartisan Rural Obstetrics Readiness Act.
The Rural Obstetrics Readiness Act would help rural hospitals and doctors prepare to handle the obstetric emergencies that come through their doors by creating training programs to help non-specialists respond to emergencies like labor and delivery; providing federal grants for rural facilities to buy better equipment to train for and handle these emergencies; and developing a pilot program for teleconsultation services, so that a doctor at a rural facility helping an expecting or postpartum mother facing an emergency can quickly consult with maternal health care experts.
“Alabama women deserve access to high-quality care throughout their pregnancy journeys, no matter their ZIP Code,” said Britt (R-Montgomery). “The Rural Obstetrics Readiness Act would equip rural hospitals with the tools, training, and resources to deliver urgent obstetric care throughout Alabama.
“I’m proud to join Senators Hassan, Collins, and Smith in introducing this critical, bipartisan legislation to support moms and families across our nation.”
In Alabama, over a third of the state’s 67 counties are classified as “maternity care deserts,” areas without access to birthing facilities or maternity care providers. Almost 30% of women in Alabama currently have no birthing hospital within 30 minutes, exceedingly higher than the national average of under 10%.
In the fall of 2023, three Alabama hospitals announced closures of their labor and delivery departments, leaving both Shelby and Monroe counties without labor and delivery services.
Last year, one of the last remaining birthing units in south Alabama at Grove Hill Memorial Hospital closed. Alabama also has one of the highest maternal mortality rates in the nation at 38.6 deaths per 100,000 births.
Access to obstetrics is an issue affecting women nationwide, which is why female senators from both parties and across multiple regions of the country came together to introduce the legislation.
Britt’s bipartisan reintroduction of the Rural Obstetrics Act follows an effort the Senator led with Sens. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) and Andy Kim (D-N.J.) to officially designate Jan. 23 as Maternal Health Awareness Day. The resolution emphasizes the importance of raising public awareness about maternal health outcomes and promotes initiatives to address and eliminate its disparities.
In 2024, Britt joined Sen. Laphonza Butler (D-Calif.) in introducing the NIH IMPROVE Act, which would provide consistent support and resources for the National Institutes of Health’s Implementing a Maternal Health and PRegnancy Outcomes Vision for Everyone (IMPROVE) Initiative to conduct important research into the causes of America’s maternal mortality crisis and to improve health care and outcomes for women before, during, and after pregnancy.
Britt also secured critical funding for the NIH IMPROVE Initiative in the Fiscal Year 2025 Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education and Related Agencies Appropriations Act. With Britt’s support, the total appropriated in the committee’s bill for the NIH IMPROVE Initiative would be $73.4 million for FY25.
And, last spring, Britt secured significant funding in the FY24 Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act to modernize and upgrade medical equipment and rural health services in Alabama.
This funding included $2.6 million for Helen Keller Hospital to replace generators and help more Alabamians receive excellent, high-quality medical care; over $3.9 million for the city of Talladega to support rural emergency services; $2 million for needed medical equipment at Atmore Community Hospital; and $2.5 million in directed spending for the Huntsville Hospital Health System to purchase additional ambulances to serve counties across North Alabama.
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