The CMS Office of Minority Health has released a new report, Advancing Rural Maternal Health Equity. This report provides a high-level summary of the activities that CMS OMH implemented as part of its Rural Maternal Health Initiative between June 2019 and November 2021. The purpose of this report is to raise awareness of these efforts with rural stakeholders, identify collaborative opportunities, and thereby further advance rural maternal health care equity across the country.
Over the past decade, there has been increasing recognition of the need to improve rural maternal health due to rising maternal mortality rates across the country and, in particular, the disproportionate effect on people of color and underserved pregnant and postpartum people in rural communities. This report highlights efforts underway to address these disparities and work to further equity in maternal health.
These efforts align with the Call to Action to Reduce Maternal Mortality and Morbidity and the White House Proclamation on Black Maternal Health Week, as well as the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) HHS Rural Health Action Plan. Within CMS, this work is also reflected in the CMS Strategic Pillars and the agency’s broader strategic initiative to improve maternity care access and quality, improve health outcomes, and reduce disparities.
CMS recognizes that more than 57 million Americans live in rural areas, and face several unique challenges. And those challenges can differ dramatically among the different kinds of rural areas across the country. Rural residents tend to be older and in poorer health than their urban counterparts, and rural communities often face challenges with access to care, financial viability, and the important link between health care and economic development.
To learn more about the CMS Rural Health initiative, visit https://go.cms.gov/ruralhealth
Paid for by the US Department of Health and Human Services.
