Research is critical to advancing health outcomes, especially around pregnancy and perinatal health.
Unfortunately, research in pregnant and lactating people is severely underfunded. Federal agencies are at the forefront of clinical trials that include these populations - and these agencies and this research are currently at risk. Pregnancy-related research must be prioritized and emphasized to optimize the health of families.
Pregnancy Research Programs
Learn more about federal programs that fund pregnancy research and the role they play to improve perinatal health out
Fact sheet coming soon
Key Pregnancy Research Programs
Maternal Fetal Medicine Units Network (MFMU)
Established in 1986, the MFMU focuses on clinical questions in maternal fetal medicine and obstetrics, particularly with respect to the continuing problem of preterm birth. The Network provides an infrastructure to conduct multiple large studies simultaneously, in both a cost-effective and timely manner. The 14 participating clinical centers cover over 160,000 deliveries a year and are racially, ethnically, and geographically diverse, allowing study results to be generalizable to the U.S. population. Results from MFMU Network studies have impacted clinical practice, both by finding treatments that prevent poor pregnancy outcomes and by stopping ineffective, costly, and potentially harmful therapies.
Implementing a Maternal health and Pregnancy Outcomes Vision for Everyone (IMPROVE) Initiative
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) launched the IMPROVE initiative in 2019 in response to high rates of pregnancy-related complications and deaths, also called maternal morbidity and mortality, in the United States.
The IMPROVE initiative supports research to reduce preventable causes of maternal deaths and improve health for women before, during, and after pregnancy. It includes a special emphasis on populations that are disproportionately affected.