,,ii  #aaith ,,congress  #ast ,session  
,s4 #cbed  ,,in ,,the ,,senate ,,of     
,,the ,,united ,,states  ,november #bj1 
#bjbe,mrs4 ,britt 7for herself and ,mr4 
,booker7 introduced the following bill2 
which was read twice and referred to the
 ,committee on ,health1 ,education1     
,labor1 and ,pensions  ,a ,,bill  ,to   
establish the ,,improve ,initiative     
within the ,national ,institutes of     
,health4  #a4 ,short title ,this ,act   
may be cited as the ,,nih ,implementing 
a ,maternal health and ,p,regnancy      
,outcomes ,vision for ,everyone or the  
,,nih ,,improve ,act4  #b4 ,,improve    
,initiative ,part ,b of title ,,iv of   
the ,public ,health ,service ,act 7#db  
,u4,s4,c4 #bhd et seq47 is amended by   
adding at the end the following3        
#dji,k4 ,,improve initiative  7a7 ,in   
general ,the ,director of ,,nih shall   
continue to carry out a program to      
improve maternal health outcomes1 to be 
known as the ,implementing a ,maternal  
health and ,p,regnancy ,outcomes ,vision

 for ,everyone ,initiative or the       
,,improve ,initiative 7referred to in   
this section as the ,initiative74  7b7  
,objectives ,the ,initiative shall--    
7#a7 advance research to-- 7,a7 reduce  
preventable causes of maternal mortality
 and severe maternal morbidity2  7,b7   
reduce health disparities related to    
maternal health outcomes1 including such
 disparities associated with populations
 with disproportionately high rates of  
maternal mortality and severe maternal  
morbidity relative to the national rate2
 and  7,c7 improve health for pregnant  
and postpartum women before1 during1 and
 after pregnancy2  7#b7 use an          
integrated approach to understand the   
factors1 including biological1          
behavioral1 and other factors1 that     
affect maternal mortality and severe    
maternal morbidity by building an       
evidence base for improved outcomes in  
specific regions of the ,united ,states2
 and  7#c7 target health disparities    
associated with maternal mortality and  

severe maternal morbidity by-- 7,a7     
implementing and evaluating             
community-based interventions for       
disproportionately affected women2 and  
7,b7 identifying risk factors and the   
underlying biological mechanisms        
associated with leading causes of       
maternal mortality and severe maternal  
morbidity in the ,united ,states4  7c7  
,implementation ,the ,director of ,,nih 
may award grants or enter into          
contracts1 cooperative agreements1 or   
other transactions to carry out this    
section4  7d7 ,authorization of         
appropriations ,there is authorized to  
be appropriated to carry out this       
section #gc1djj1jjj for each of fiscal  
years #bjbf through #bjca4  4