42 U.S.C. § 294s — Rural maternal and obstetric care training demonstration

(a) In general The Secretary must give grants to accredited medical, osteopathic, and nursing schools, and other health training programs, to run a training demonstration program. It supports (1) training physicians, residents, fellows, nurse practitioners, physician assistants, nurses, nurse midwives, home visiting workers, and other qualified professionals to reduce preventable maternal deaths and severe complications by improving prenatal, labor, birth, and postpartum care in rural community settings, and (2) developing recommendations for that training. (b) Application To get a grant, an entity must apply to the Secretary however the Secretary requires. (c) Activities (1) Training for health care professionals: A grant recipient (A) must use the funds to plan, build, and run a training program for prenatal, labor, birth, and postpartum care in rural areas, and (B) may use funds for administrative support or to build up faculty and departments needed for the training. (2) Training program requirements: The training must be evidence-based and improve rural prenatal, labor, birth, and postpartum care. It may cover topics like (A) maternal mental health, including depression and anxiety around pregnancy; (B) substance use disorders; (C) social factors affecting rural patients' health; and (D) improving care for racial and ethnic minority patients, including addressing bias. (d) Evaluation and report (1) Evaluation: (A) The Secretary must evaluate how the demonstration program is working. (B) Grant recipients must submit performance data to the Secretary for this evaluation and for the report described below. (2) Report to Congress: By January 1, 2026, the Secretary must report to Congress, including (A) how the program affected the quality, amount, and distribution of maternal care services, and the demographics of who received them; (B) how maternal and infant health outcomes — including care quality, illness, and death — changed after the program started in the communities it served; and (C) a recommendation on whether to continue the program. (e) Authorization of appropriations Congress may spend $5,000,000 each year from 2023 through 2027 to carry out this section.