The AAMC submitted comments on Feb. 21 to the National Institutes of Health (NIH) on its Proposed Research Initiative to Decrease Maternal Mortality.
The Proposed Research Initiative is a two-pronged approach that was developed to address the rise of maternal mortality disparities in the United States, particularly in African American, American Indian/Alaska Native, and rural populations.
The NIH requested information on research gaps, best practices, resources, relevant scientific advances, and other ideas for innovative research initiatives to produce actionable evidence.
In its comments, the AAMC praised the NIH’s efforts to develop a coordinated transagency research initiative and its investigation of alternative care models such as midwives, doulas, community health workers, and telemedicine. The AAMC recommended:
- Improvements to the community engagement cores of the Clinical and Translational Science Awards to effectively translate research advances into community health improvements.
- Funding opportunities to build the evidence base for practical, community-led efforts to address patient-level social factors related to maternal mortality.
- Increased funding for health policy research which identifies the social and structural mechanisms through which maternal mortality disparities arise to guide policy-level interventions.