The mission of AIM is to support best practices that make birth safer, improve maternal health outcomes, and save lives.
How does this work save lives?
This national effort promotes the development and use of maternal care quality improvement bundles.
AIM “patient safety bundles” are sets of practices to improve the quality of care provided during delivery and in the postpartum period. The purpose of implementing the AIM bundles is to make births safer and reduce preventable deaths and severe maternal morbidity (SMM). SMM is the unintended outcomes of labor and delivery that result in significant short- or long-term health consequences.
Examples of practices include:
- Having all medications and equipment ready and nearby
- Assessing patients early and recognizing warning signs
- Practicing the steps to care for patients in emergencies
- Coordinating patient care with other healthcare providers
- Educating healthcare providers and patients
What is the reach of this initiative?
In hospitals and birth centers:
As of February 2026, 49 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico are participating in AIM. Within those areas, 2,095 birthing facilities (hospitals with labor and delivery units and freestanding birth centers) are implementing AIM patient safety bundles. This represents 74% of the birthing facilities in participating areas. Any birthing facility may participate in AIM through its state-based team.
How does AIM function?
We fund three AIM projects:
- AIM Technical Assistance (TA) Center: providing national expertise in the development and use of AIM patient safety bundles.
- AIM Capacity: providing funding to states, jurisdictions, and territories so that they can expand AIM patient safety bundles to their hospitals and birth centers.
- Maternal Health Emergency Management Training: increasing capacity and helping clinicians and first responders provide better care to pregnant and postpartum women, especially in places without delivery services or with limited health care resources.
Details for each of these funded projects:
In September 2026, we awarded $3,000,000 to JSI Research & Training Institute Inc to develop workforce training and resources for providers who care for pregnant and postpartum women outside of labor and delivery settings.
- We fund this cooperative agreement to develop and nationally disseminate:
- A national training program for the health care workforce to provide better care to pregnant and postpartum women, especially in places without delivery services or with limited health care resources.
- Practical, targeted implementation strategies that translate existing AIM patient safety bundles and resource kits into actionable approaches for non-delivery and/or low-resource clinical settings.
- Read the 2026 closed notice of funding opportunity for The Maternal Health Emergency Management Training (MHEMT) program (HRSA-26-112) for complete information on this cooperative agreement.
In September 2025, we awarded $5.26 million to the JSI Research & Training Institute Inc to provide Technical Assistance to AIM entities.
- Read the 2023 closed notice of funding opportunity for AIM Technical Assistance Center (HRSA-23-084) for complete information on this cooperative agreement.
- Find details of this work on the AIM website.
We fund this TA center to support all the AIM Capacity awardees to:
- Develop and share “patient safety bundles”
- Help those state-based teams to carry out the work and collect data
- Build private and public partners across the spectrum of maternity care providers, public health agencies, birthing facilities, hospital networks and associations, quality care collaboratives, community groups, and patients with lived experience. Find the:
Current Patient Safety Bundles address:
- Obstetric Hemorrhage
- Severe Hypertension in Pregnancy
- Safe Reduction of Primary Cesarean Birth
- Cardiac Conditions in Obstetric Care
- Care for Pregnant and Postpartum People with Substance Use Disorder
- Perinatal Mental Health Conditions
- Postpartum Discharge Transition
- Sepsis in Obstetrical Care
In August 2023, we awarded 28 entities up to $200,000 each for the first year of this 4-year cycle. In August 2024, one additional entity was awarded. Each awardee leads AIM efforts within their state, jurisdiction, or territory.
- Find the organizations and the awarded amounts in the awards chart.
By directly funding entities that lead AIM activities at the state level, those states manage and increase the number of hospitals and birthing facilities doing this work.
AIM Capacity helps states:
- Implement and sustain “patient safety bundles”
- Expand the reach, depth, and quality of AIM efforts
- Address the complex problem of maternal death rates
- Effectively collect and report AIM data
AIM is one investment among many we make to improve maternal health. Find all our maternal health investments on our Maternal Health Focus Area Webpage and our Mental and Behavioral Health Focus Area Webpage.