McClellan, Strickland Lead 14 Members of Congress to Demand Quality Maternal Health Care for U.S. Servicemembers

Washington, D.C. – Congresswoman Jennifer McClellan (VA-04) and Congresswoman Marilyn Strickland (WA-10) led 14 House members in a letter to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth demanding answers to ensure the Department of Defense (DoD) and the Defense Health Agency (DHA) are providing military servicemembers with quality maternal health care in the Military Health System (MHS).

“We were alarmed to discover that websites detailing DoD’s efforts to ensure equal quality of care and health outcomes for servicemembers were deleted and that reports detailing how DoD has improved or is aiming to improve health care services at military treatment facilities for minority servicemembers and their families have been removed from online archives and report libraries,” wrote the Members. “A search through the Defense Health Agency’s (DHA) Publications Library shows that searches for “health disparities” and similar terms that touch on the intersection of race and health have been completely removed despite the incredibly useful information these reports contain on improving health outcomes for our servicemembers.”

“This is alarming as previous reports noted significant differences exist in mental health outcomes, surgical outcomes, and maternal health outcomes within the MHS,” the Members continued. “The scrubbing of these reports from DoD raises serious questions regarding whether DHA is continuing to roll out improvements to address disparities in maternal health outcomes and how we are tracking data to ensure that these changes are implemented in the most effective manner.”

The Members concluded, “The health of our servicemembers and their families is a key issue we must address as we seek to improve the quality of life for those who dedicate their lives to protecting this nation.”

The Members called for a prompt response from DoD and DHA to the following questions:

• Is the DHA continuing to implement the Alliance for Innovation on Maternal Health Safety Bundle on PPH across the MHS?
• Is DHA continuing to ensure that all health care staff who care for pregnant patients have training on perinatal training across the MHS?
• Are there additional steps that DoD and DHA are taking to address the significantly higher incidences of PPH and other leading causes of maternal mortality at MHS that disproportionately affect women of color?
• Is DoD ensuring that it has adequate data to address disparities in maternal health and effectively implementing best practices despite directives from the Secretary of Defense?
  • If so, how is DoD gathering this data and what improvements have been made to ensure the quality and usefulness of the date?
  • If not, what is DoD’s reasoning for refusing to gather data that could save the lives of both newborns and their mothers?

Read the full letter here.