MOMS for the 21st Century Bill Filed in House of Representatives!

I felt this news is too important  so I am posting the recent enews directly from Childbirth Connection.

Please share with your networks and contact your representatives to ask them to support the MOMS for the 21st Century Bill.

Childbirth Connection is pleased to inform eNews subscribers that Congresswoman Lucille Roybal-Allard of California has filed the Maximizing Optimal Maternity Services for the 21st Century bill (HR 5807). Also known as “MOMS for the 21st Century,” the bill was filed with 25 co-sponsors.

This sweeping legislation aims to “promote optimal maternity outcomes by making evidence-based maternity care a national priority.” Key provisions include:

• establishing a focal area on optimal maternity care in the Office
   on Women’s Health, Department of Health and Human Services 
• establishing a federal Interagency Coordinating Committee on the
   Promotion of Optimal Maternity Outcomes
• developing and carrying out a national consumer education
   campaign about optimal maternity care
• developing, making publicly available, and keeping up to date a
   bibliographic database of systematic reviews for care of 
   childbearing women and newborns
• identifying maternity care health professional shortage areas
• establishing Centers for Excellence on Optimal Maternity Outcomes
• directing the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation to test
   innovative maternity care models
• developing common core curricula for maternity care providers
• establishing payment for certified nurse-midwife teachers of
   students in health professions education programs
• establishing a loan repayment program for maternity care
   professionals 
• providing grants to increase the diversity of the maternity care
   workforce.

Moms for the 21st Century includes key provisions recommended in two Childbirth Connection reports: Evidence-Based Maternity Care: What It Is and What It Can Achieve (2008) and the “Blueprint for Action: Steps toward a High-Quality, High-Value Maternity Care System” (2010). Childbirth Connection issued Evidence-Based Maternity Care together with the Reforming States Group and the Milbank Memorial Fund. The Blueprint was developed through theTransforming Maternity Care project, a multi-disciplinary, multi-stakeholder collaboration that engaged leaders from across the health care system over two and one-half years in identifying priority actions for driving maternity care quality improvement. Childbirth Connection was honored to work closely with Ms. Roybal-Allard’s office on this important legislation.

ENews readers are encouraged to:
• read the MOMS for the 21st Century bill
• read Rep. Roybal-Allard’s press release (PDF)
• watch Rep.Roybal-Allard’s floor speech to introduce the bill, and
• call Rep. Roybal-Allard’s office to thank her for exceptional