Maternal Health

The Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) supports research on maternal health and pregnancy outcomes, with the goal of preventing and treating pregnancy-related complications and reducing maternal mortality.

Black Women Over Three Times More Likely to Die in Pregnancy, Postpartum Than White Women, New Research Finds

In the United States, Black-white disparities in maternal mortality—deaths related to pregnancy or childbirth—may be larger than previously reported, new research shows. Closing the gap involves addressing structural racism—that is, those aspects of social, political, economic, and health care systems that reinforce inequity, researchers say. Because pregnancy is riskier to women’s health than abortion, state…

NICHD Decoding Maternal Morbidity Data Challenge

The NICHD Decoding Maternal Morbidity Data Challenge has launched! NICHD is seeking innovative approaches to secondary analyses of data collected from the Nulliparous Pregnancy Outcomes Study: Monitoring Mothers-to-be (nuMoM2b). Using fresh and unique methods of computational analysis, data mining, or learning approaches, Challenge innovators can help identify factors and interventions that can reduce maternal morbidity and severe maternal morbidity….

Racism-related stress may help explain why Black women in the United States are over 50% more likely to deliver a premature baby than white women. Just over 14% of Black women have premature births compared with 9% of white women.1 These stark racial disparities have been documented for more than a century, reports Catherine Cubbin…

NIH Virtual Workshop: Pregnancy and Maternal Conditions that Increase Risk of Morbidity and Mortality

Maternal mortality rates have increased in the United States. The purpose of this virtual workshop, co-sponsored by NICHD, is to develop a research agenda targeted at the clinical causes of maternal morbidity and mortality. An interdisciplinary team of experts will address the question of why women die from these conditions (e.g. postpartum hemorrhage, hypertension, cardiovascular…

NIH Invites Input on Proposed Research Initiative to Decrease Maternal Mortality

NIH published a request for information (RFI) to solicit input on a proposed research initiative to decrease maternal mortality. In strategic alignment with efforts undertaken across the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and NIH’s already significant investments in maternal mortality research, NIH is considering the proposed two-pronged research initiative in pursuit of cutting-edge,…

NIH Invites Comments and Suggestions for a Proposed Research Initiative to Decrease Maternal Mortality

The alarming rise of maternal mortality in the United States is a serious public health concern that has garnered widespread attention from U.S. government leadership, the NIH, and the public. NIH is seeking input from stakeholders throughout the scientific research, advocacy, and clinical practice communities, as well as the general public, on a proposed research…

Maternal Health

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