Healthy Moms, Healthy Babies Commits $100 Million to Halve U.S. Maternal Deaths by 2031

Healthy Moms, Healthy Babies America, a bipartisan effort launched by Olivia and Tom Walton’s Heartland Forward, pledged $100 million over five years to reduce the U.S. maternal mortality rate by half by 2031. The CDC reported 688 maternal deaths in 2024, raising the rate to 19 per 100,000 live births, an increase from the previous year. A core component of the program is better data collection, supported by a partnership with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Perinatal Improvement Collaborative that gathers outcomes from 220 hospitals.

The initiative will focus on expanding access in rural areas, training midwives, and extending postpartum care, and it seeks state matching funds and corporate contributions to sustain the effort. Legislative allies include the Rural Obstetrics Readiness Act and the NIH IMPROVE Act, with Republican Sen. Katie Britt and Democratic Sen. Cory Booker voicing support. President Dr. Neel Shah argues that the problem is “eminently solvable” once knowledge is put into practice, and Olivia Walton cites her personal experience as a mother living in Arkansas, a state with the nation’s highest maternal mortality rate.