Healthy Moms, Healthy Babies America pledges $100M to cut U.S. maternal mortality rate in half

The bipartisan campaign Healthy Moms, Healthy Babies America, founded by philanthropists Olivia and Tom Walton, has pledged $100 million over five years to cut the rising U.S. maternal mortality rate in half by 2031. With CDC data showing 688 maternal deaths in 2024, the initiative targets rural healthcare access, midwife training, and faster hospital data reporting. The campaign seeks to leverage philanthropic capital to secure matching state funds and supports federal bipartisan legislation to address a crisis that Senator Cory Booker estimates costs the U.S. economy $165 billion annually.

$100 million maternal mortality pledge

• ▪The Healthy Moms, Healthy Babies America initiative aims to cut the maternal mortality rate in the United States in half by 2031
• ▪Healthy Moms, Healthy Babies America, a bipartisan campaign founded by Olivia and Tom Walton, announced a $100 million, five-year pledge on September 10, 2026, to make giving birth in the United States safer

U.S. maternal mortality crisis data

• ▪According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 688 people in the United States died in 2024 during pregnancy or shortly after giving birth
• ▪The United States maternal mortality rate rose to 19 deaths per 100,000 live births in 2024, up from 18.6 deaths per 100,000 live births in 2023

State-level implementation strategy

• ▪Healthy Moms, Healthy Babies America co-founder Olivia Walton plans to use the $100 million commitment to encourage state governments to match the nonprofit's investment
• ▪Healthy Moms, Healthy Babies America plans to focus on expanding maternal health access in rural areas, training midwives, and expanding postpartum care

Hospital death reporting improvements

• ▪The nonprofit organization Heartland Forward partnered with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services in May 2026 to collect maternal and infant health data from 220 hospitals through the Perinatal Improvement Collaborative
• ▪Healthy Moms, Healthy Babies America aims to improve data collection and accelerate hospitals' reporting of maternal deaths, noting that the most recent state-level data is from 2022

Bipartisan legislative support

• ▪Healthy Moms, Healthy Babies America is supporting bipartisan Congressional legislation, including the Rural Obstetrics Readiness Act and the NIH IMPROVE Act
• ▪U.S. Senator Katie Britt stated in September 2026 that public and private sectors must work together to reverse the rising trend of maternal mortality rates in the United States

Economic costs of maternal deaths

• ▪U.S. Senator Cory Booker estimated that poor maternal health outcomes in the United States result in economic consequences of $165 billion each year
• ▪Olivia Walton stated that maternal health issues have broad national implications, asserting that healthy mothers lead to healthy families, communities, and economies