Survey Shows 86% of Americans Want Action on Maternal Deaths
A national survey of 1,000 voters has found that 86 percent of Americans believe mothers in the United States should not die from preventable causes during childbirth, a problem that has grown worse in recent years.
The poll tested 15 policy solutions, and every one received majority backing. Thirteen of the proposals were supported by at least 80 percent of respondents.
The most popular measure was broadening telehealth and specialty care for rural and high-risk pregnancies, an approach that brings the specialist to the mother rather than requiring her to travel. A large majority also favored extending insurance coverage through a baby's entire first year instead of stopping at six weeks.
By significant margins, those surveyed said they would support a political candidate who prioritizes the issue.
The findings point to an unusual consensus in a country where voters often split along partisan lines on topics such as immigration, education, the economy and foreign policy. Maternal and infant health appears to be an exception.
Support grew quickly once people learned more. Before being given any information about maternal mortality in America, 77 percent already wanted the system improved. After hearing a few statistics, that figure climbed to 86 percent. The fact that resonated most was that two-thirds of maternal deaths in the U.S. happen in the year after delivery, when many assume the danger has passed.
That reality helps explain the strong reaction. Over the past 40 years, the United States has become the only wealthy nation where the risk of dying from a pregnancy-related cause has risen rather than fallen. The country now trails Russia and Ukraine on this measure. Despite spending more than any other nation on childbirth, the U.S. does not achieve better results.
The same principle applies after birth. A nurse visit within two weeks of delivery can detect a hemorrhage, an infection or a dangerous rise in blood pressure before it becomes an emergency. Hospitals require a car seat before a newborn can go home, yet new mothers are often sent away with little more than encouragement and a six-week follow-up appointment.
The authors of the survey, Olivia Walton and Kellyanne Conway, are urging the Senate to pass two bills. Walton founded Healthy Moms, Healthy Babies America, a bipartisan campaign that aims to halve the U.S. maternal mortality rate within five years. Conway is a former senior counselor to President Trump and founder of KAConsulting LLC, which conducted the polling.
The first bill, the Rural Obstetrics Readiness Act, would train and equip rural emergency rooms that lack a labor-and-delivery unit to handle obstetric emergencies and would provide access to a maternal health specialist by phone when a delivery goes wrong. It is sponsored by Sens. Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.), Susan Collins (R-Maine), Katie Britt (R-Ala.) and Tina Smith (D-Minn.), and cleared the Senate Health Committee unanimously in July.
The second, the NIH Improve Act, would guarantee steady funding for a National Institutes of Health research initiative already investigating why American mothers are dying. Led by Britt and Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.), along with Reps. Lauren Underwood (D-Ill.) and Brian Fitzpatrick (R-Pa.), it passed the House unanimously in July.
Neither bill is considered controversial, yet both remain stalled. The survey's authors argue that the public is already convinced and that lawmakers in Washington need to act. They encourage voters who share the 86 percent view to contact their senators and ask when a vote will be held, stressing that healthy mothers build healthy families and a stronger country.
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