Maternal and Child Health Resource Repository

The March of Dimes launched BlanketChange.org, using the hospital receiving blanket as an emblem of the organization’s call to improve maternal health outcomes through equity, access and prevention.

The National Institutes of Health launched the IMPROVE (Implementing a Maternal Health and Pregnancy Outcomes Vision for Everyone) initiative, which seeks to improve maternal health outcomes and reduce disparities through research on the causes of maternal mortality and complications.

The House of Representatives passed by voice vote the AHA-supported Helping Medicaid Offer Maternity Services Act (H.R. 4996), as amended.

AHA’s latest Members in Action podcast dives into the importance of promoting race equity to ensure healthy pregnancies, healthy babies and better outcomes for the community in general.

AHA Sept. 23 sponsored the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation Annual Legislative Conference session, “Advancing Black Maternal Health: Moving the Momnibus and Coverage Expansion Forward.”

In this Members in Action podcast featuring maternal and child health efforts, we are speaking with Dr. Ken Fawcett, Vice President and Peggy Vander Meulen, Manager of Community Health Programs of Spectrum Health Healthier Communities program.

The Health Resources and Services Administration awarded states, territories and nonprofit organizations $341 million in fiscal year 2020 funding for the Maternal, Infant and Early Childhood Home Visiting Program, which provides voluntary home visiting services to pregnant women and parents with young children.

The House of Representatives passed the Maternal Health Quality Improvement Act of 2019 (H.R. 4995), which would create new Public Health Service Act programs to improve maternal health.

The recently created KidsX Accelerator program will bring together 32 pediatric hospitals from across the globe to partner with digital health startup companies to meet the unique needs of pediatric patients and their families.

In a sample of 598 hospitalized pregnant women with COVID-19, 55% had no symptoms on admission, according to a report released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In this Members in Action podcast, featuring maternal and child health efforts, we speak with Dr. Hyagriv Simhan, Professor of the Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Science, and Division Chief of Maternal Fetal Medicine and Beth Quinn, Program Director of Women’s Services, both at UPMC Magee-Womens Hospital, about innovative strategies the hospital is using to engage women and families through technology

The AHA invites hospitals and health systems to participate in the Better Maternal Outcomes Improvement Sprint, a free, six-week program focused on reducing harm from maternal hemorrhage.

Many rural hospitals have been challenged with maintaining obstetric services but are now partnering with others to improve birth outcomes for mothers and babies.

In this podcast featuring maternal and child health efforts, we are speaking with care team members from Kearny County Hospital in Lakin, Kansas as they discuss the importance of a growing OB unit, and share impact of Kearny County’s Pioneer Baby program.

As part of an effort to combat pregnancy-related complications and deaths, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Hear Her campaign acknowledges that women know their own bodies better than anyone and can often tell when something does not feel right.

The gift of a new life shouldn’t come at the expense of an existing one. Yet every year, more than 700 women die from pregnancy- and delivery-related complications. Another 50,000 women suffer severe health problems related to pregnancy. And, these complications are disproportionately affecting Black and American Indian/Alaska Native women.

In this podcast, we have Priya Bathija, vice president of Strategic Initiatives at the AHA and Dr. Jonathan Weeks, a maternal-fetal medicine physician and the medical director of the MOST Program at Norton Healthcare. Joining them is Charlotte Ipsan, Chief Administrative Officer, Norton Women’s & Children’s Hospital.

Approximately one-quarter of healthy women with low-risk pregnancies still undergo C-sections despite the potential risks to mothers and babies. To avoid unnecessary C-sections, hospitals are making strides in recognizing risk factors for mothers and babies sooner.

In this Members in Action podcast featuring maternal and child health efforts, we are speaking with Dr. Stephen Lockhart, founding director emeritus, Sutter Health Institute for Advancing Health Equity. Dr. Lockhart will discuss Sutter Health’s commitment to improving outcomes by reducing the number of first-birth C-section rates through its Pregnancy & Childbirth Services, in addition to engaging mothers and their families through the process.

The Department of Health and Human Services amended the declaration under the Public Readiness and Emergency Preparedness Act to authorize state-licensed pharmacists and pharmacy interns under their supervision to order and administer vaccines to children, subject to certain requirements.