Philanthropists pledge $100 million to cut maternal mortality in half by 2031

Philanthropists Olivia and Tom Walton pledged $100 million to cut U.S. maternal mortality in half by 2031 through their Healthy Moms, Healthy Babies America campaign. The five-year initiative’s priorities include improving data collection and accelerating hospitals’ reporting of deaths. The most recent complete state-level maternal mortality data are from 2022. The initiative also will focus on expanding access to maternal health in rural areas, training midwives and expanding postpartum care and disseminating proven strategies at the state level. Separately, the Health Resources and Services Administration’s Rural Maternal Health Data Support program launched a data repository allowing users to build customized maternal health profiles for U.S. counties. It includes indicators on population demographics, healthcare provider capacity and maternal health outcomes. (AP article, 9/12/26)