I 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3047 

To amend title 10, United States Code, to improve postpartum care for 

members of the Armed Forces and dependents of such members, and 

for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 7, 2021 

Ms. HOULAHAN introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Armed Services 

A BILL 

To amend title 10, United States Code, to improve 

postpartum care for members of the Armed Forces and 

dependents of such members, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Military Moms Matter 

5 Act of 2021’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. IMPROVEMENT OF POSTPARTUM CARE FOR CER2 TAIN MEMBERS OF THE ARMED FORCES AND 

3 DEPENDENTS. 

4 (a) LEAVE FOR PRIMARY AND SECONDARY CARE5 GIVERS.— 

6 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 701 of title 10, 

7 United State Code, is amended— 

8 (A) in subsection (i)— 

9 (i) by striking ‘‘total’’ each place it 

10 appears and inserting ‘‘parental’’; 

11 (ii) in paragraph (1)— 

12 (I) in subparagraph (A), by strik13 ing ‘‘, including up to six weeks of 

14 medical convalescent leave’’ and in15 serting ‘‘ and up to six weeks of med16 ical convalescent leave (which may not 

17 be considered in calculating the twelve 

18 weeks of parental leave)’’; and 

19 (II) in subparagraph (B), by 

20 striking ‘‘six weeks’’ and inserting 

21 ‘‘twelve weeks’’; and 

22 (iii) in paragraph (4), by inserting 

23 ‘‘(and such additional medical convalescent 

24 leave may not be considered in calculating 

25 the twelve weeks of parental leave authorVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:58 Jun 10, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3047.IH H3047

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1 ized under such paragraph)’’ after ‘‘child’’; 

2 and 

3 (B) in subsection (j)— 

4 (i) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘21 

5 days of leave’’ and inserting ‘‘twelve weeks 

6 of parental leave’’; 

7 (ii) by striking paragraph (3); and 

8 (iii) in paragraph (4), by striking 

9 ‘‘paragraphs (6)’’ and all that follows 

10 through ‘‘shall apply’’ and inserting ‘‘para11 graphs (4) through (10) of subsection (i) 

12 shall apply’’. 

13 (2) APPLICABILITY.—The amendments made 

14 by this section shall take effect on the date of the 

15 enactment of this Act and shall apply with respect 

16 to births and adoptions that occur on or after the 

17 date that is six months after the date of the enact18 ment of this Act. 

19 (b) POSTPARTUM CARE FOR CERTAIN MEMBERS AND

20 DEPENDENTS.— 

21 (1) POSTPARTUM CARE.—Section 1074d of title 

22 10, United States Code, is amended— 

23 (A) by redesignating subsection (b) as sub24 section (c); and 


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1 (B) by inserting after subsection (a) the 

2 following new subsection (b): 

3 ‘‘(b) POSTPARTUM CARE FOR CERTAIN MEMBERS

4 AND DEPENDENTS.—(1) At intervals to be prescribed by 

5 the Secretary that follow the date on which a covered indi6 vidual gives birth, but not less frequently than four times 

7 during the one-year period beginning on such date, and 

8 upon consent of the covered individual, the Secretary shall 

9 furnish postpartum mental health assessments to the cov10 ered individual. Such assessments shall include screening 

11 questions related to postpartum anxiety and postpartum 

12 depression and may be provided in connection with the 

13 follow-up appointments described in paragraph (3). 

14 ‘‘(2)(A) The Secretary shall ensure that, upon a cov15 ered individual giving birth or soon thereafter, the covered 

16 individual is offered a referral for a pelvic floor examina17 tion as part of the medical care to which the covered indi18 vidual is entitled under this chapter. 

19 ‘‘(B) Pelvic floor examinations provided pursuant to 

20 subparagraph (A) shall be conducted in-person wherever 

21 possible, but if the Secretary determines a covered indi22 vidual for whom a referral is offered under such subpara23 graph is located in a geographic area with an inadequate 

24 number of physical therapists trained in providing such 


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1 examinations, the examination may be provided through 

2 a telehealth appointment. 

3 ‘‘(3) The Secretary shall ensure that there is provided 

4 within each military medical treatment facility an option 

5 for any covered individual who has given birth at the facil6 ity, and who is eligible to receive care at the facility, to 

7 schedule a follow-up appointment for postpartum care of 

8 the covered individual that is concurrent with the date of 

9 the follow-up appointment for postnatal care of the cov10 ered individual’s newborn infant. 

11 ‘‘(4) In this subsection, the term ‘covered individual’ 

12 means a member of the armed forces (including the re13 serve components) performing active service, or a depend14 ent of such member, who is entitled to medical care under 

15 this chapter.’’. 

16 (2) APPLICABILITY.—The amendments made 

17 by this subsection shall take effect on the date of the 

18 enactment of this Act and shall apply with respect 

19 to births that occur on or after the date that is six 

20 months after the date of the enactment of this Act. 

21 (c) PHYSICAL FITNESS TESTS.—Not later than after 

22 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the 

23 Secretary of Defense shall— 

24 (1) develop a standardized policy under which 

25 any member of the Armed Forces who gives birth 


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1 while on active duty may not be required to take a 

2 physical fitness test until the date that is one year 

3 after the date on which the member gave birth; and 

4 (2) ensure such policy is implemented uniformly 

5 across each of the Armed Forces. 

6 (d) PILOT PROGRAM TO STREAMLINE POSTPARTUM

7 APPOINTMENTS.— 

8 (1) PILOT PROGRAM.—The Secretary shall 

9 carry out a one-year pilot program to further 

10 streamline the process of scheduling postpartum ap11 pointments at military medical treatment facilities 

12 by reducing the number of distinct visits required 

13 for such appointments. 

14 (2) STREAMLINING OF APPOINTMENTS.—In 

15 carrying out the pilot program under paragraph (1), 

16 the Secretary shall ensure that there is provided 

17 within each military medical treatment facility se18 lected under paragraph (3) an option for covered in19 dividuals who have recently given birth at the facil20 ity, and who are eligible to receive care at the facil21 ity, to receive a physical therapy evaluation in con22 nection with each appointment provided by the facil23 ity for postpartum care of the covered individual or 

24 for care of the covered individual’s newborn infant, 

25 including such appointments provided concurrently 


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1 pursuant to section 1074d(b) of title 10, United 25 

2 States Code (as added by subsection (b)). 

3 (3) SELECTION.—The Secretary shall select not 

4 fewer than ten military medical treatment facilities 

5 at which to carry out the pilot program under para6 graph (1). In making such selection, the Secretary 

7 shall ensure geographic diversity with respect to the 

8 location of the facilities, including by considering for 

9 selection facilities located outside of the United 

10 States. 

11 (4) REPORT.—Not later than one year after the 

12 commencement of the pilot program under para13 graph (1), the Secretary shall submit to the Com14 mittees on Armed Services of the House of Rep15 resentatives and the Senate a report on the effective16 ness of the pilot program. Such report shall in17 clude— 

18 (A) a recommendation by the Secretary on 

19 whether to expand or extend the pilot program; 

20 and 

21 (B) a summary of the findings that led to 

22 such recommendation. 

23 (5) COVERED INDIVIDUAL DEFINED.—In this 

24 subsection, the term ‘‘covered individual’’ has the 


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1 meaning given such term in section 1074d(b) of title 

2 10, United States Code (as added by subsection (b)). 

3 (e) PELVIC HEALTH AT MILITARY MEDICAL TREAT4 MENT FACILITIES.—The Secretary shall take such steps 

5 as are necessary to increase the capacity of military med6 ical treatment facilities to provide pelvic health rehabilita7 tion services, including by increasing the number of phys8 ical therapists employed at such facilities who are trained 

9 in pelvic health rehabilitation. 

10 (f) REVIEW OF PELVIC HEALTH REHABILITATION

11 PROGRAMS.— 

12 (1) REVIEW REQUIRED.—The Secretary shall 

13 conduct a review of any current pelvic health reha14 bilitation programs of the Department of Defense, 

15 including an evaluation of the outcomes of any such 

16 programs. 

17 (2) REPORT.—Not later than nine months after 

18 the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary 

19 shall submit to the Committees on Armed Services 

20 of the House of Representatives and the Senate a 

21 report containing the findings of the review required 

22 under paragraph (1). 

23 (g) GUIDANCE ON OBSTETRIC HEMORRHAGE TREAT24 MENT.—Not later than 180 days after the date of the en25 actment of this Act, the Secretary shall issue guidance on 


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1 the development and implementation of standard protocols 

2 across the military health system for the treatment of ob3 stetric hemorrhages, including through the use of patho4 gen reduced resuscitative blood products. 

Æ 


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