Pregnancy and Postpartum Hypertension Control Initiative | WH AST 25 001

Opportunity Information: Apply for WH AST 25 001

The Pregnancy and Postpartum Hypertension Control Initiative (Funding Opportunity Number: WH AST 25 001; CFDA 93.088) is a discretionary grant program led by the Office on Women's Health within the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health (HHS). The core purpose is to rapidly expand and normalize self-measured blood pressure (SMBP) as a routine part of care during pregnancy and the postpartum period across the United States. SMBP is described as patients regularly checking their own blood pressure at home or in another non-clinical setting, paired with clinical support to interpret readings and act on them. The opportunity is positioned as an implementation-and-scaling push that builds directly on several major federal hypertension efforts already underway, including prior HHS, CDC, HRSA, and OMH initiatives, with the intent of turning lessons learned from those programs into practical, scalable models that can be adopted widely.

The initiative emphasizes that SMBP is already considered a best practice, supported by extensive evidence and reflected in national and international hypertension guidance for adults, with additional support for postpartum use cited from AHRQ's systematic review and meta-analysis on postpartum hypertensive disorders. In practical terms, HHS is looking for projects that will accelerate real-world uptake: getting validated blood pressure monitoring into patients' hands, setting up clinical workflows for follow-up, and ensuring the data collected leads to timely detection and control of hypertension. The expected public health impact is framed around improved maternal and fetal outcomes, fewer hypertension-related complications, and reductions in admissions, morbidity, and downstream burden associated with uncontrolled blood pressure during pregnancy and after delivery.

Equity is a central theme of the announcement. Applicants are expected to prioritize underserved and rural communities, including areas described as maternity care deserts, where access to consistent prenatal and postpartum care is limited. The goal is not just broader adoption overall, but more equitable detection and control of hypertension for populations that historically face higher risk and more barriers to care. Projects should therefore be designed in ways that realistically work in low-resource settings, address access and follow-up challenges, and reduce disparities rather than inadvertently widening them.

The funding is intended for fast-moving, time-limited projects, and applicants must show they can fully implement within the first six months of the award. That requirement signals that HHS is not looking for long planning phases; it wants awardees to arrive with partners, workflows, staffing, and operational plans ready to go. Throughout the project, recipients are expected to evaluate both process measures and outcome measures so HHS can judge what worked, what did not, and what could be replicated. Recipients must also document and share findings with HHS and other stakeholders interested in SMBP during pregnancy and postpartum, including data, best practices, and lessons learned, which suggests an emphasis on producing usable implementation knowledge that can be transferred to other systems and geographies.

The period of performance can extend up to 24 months, structured as two 12-month budget periods. Continuation into the second year requires submission of a non-competing continuation application, and continued funding depends on the availability of funds, satisfactory progress, and proper stewardship of federal dollars. Award amounts are generally expected to remain consistent across budget periods, though unused funds from the prior period may offset later amounts. Because the projects are explicitly described as time-limited demonstrations to assess effectiveness, applicants are also expected to think beyond the grant and include a credible sustainability approach for maintaining SMBP practices after OWH funding ends.

Eligibility is broad and includes both public and private entities located in a "State" as defined by federal statute and regulation. This definition includes U.S. states plus the District of Columbia and several U.S. territories and insular areas (for example, Puerto Rico, Guam, and the U.S. Virgin Islands). Eligible applicants listed in the source data include state, county, and local governments; special districts; independent school districts; public housing authorities; public and private institutions of higher education; federally recognized tribal governments and other tribal organizations; nonprofits with or without 501(c)(3) status; for-profit organizations (including entities other than small businesses); and small businesses. The narrative also highlights faith-based organizations, community-based organizations, and American Indian/Alaska Native/Native American organizations as eligible, reinforcing that HHS anticipates a wide range of applicants, including those embedded in communities and those capable of operating clinical and public health delivery models.

Key logistics included in the listing are an expected 18 awards and an award ceiling of $550,000. The original closing date is April 2, 2025, and the opportunity was created on July 31, 2024. Taken together, the grant is best understood as a national scaling effort aimed at making SMBP during pregnancy and postpartum a standard, supported practice, with rapid deployment expectations, a strong evaluation and knowledge-sharing requirement, and a deliberate focus on reaching underserved and rural populations where hypertension-related maternal risks and care access gaps are often greatest.

• The Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health in the health sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Pregnancy and Postpartum Hypertension Control Initiative" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 93.088.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2024-07-31.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2025-04-02. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Each selected applicant is eligible to receive up to $550,000.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 18 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: State governments, County governments, City or township governments, Special district governments, Independent school districts, Public and State controlled institutions of higher education, Native American tribal governments (Federally recognized), Public housing authorities/Indian housing authorities, Native American tribal organizations (other than Federally recognized tribal governments), Nonprofits having a 501 (c) (3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education, Nonprofits that do not have a 501 (c) (3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education, Private institutions of higher education, For-profit organizations other than small businesses, Small businesses.

Apply for WH AST 25 001

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