AMCHP Innovation Hub is an online platform that provides maternal and child health (MCH) professionals and advocates with resources and tools to explore, build, and share effective work grounded in evidence that contributes to improving the health and well-being of MCH populations and their communities. It is home to the MCH Innovations Database, a searchable…
Since 2020, the University of Illinois Health System (UI Health) has successfully implemented Two-Generation care clinics on the west and south sides of Chicago. This innovative care model combines dyadic care with behavioral health support and aid for social needs for postpartum families up to two years after birth. This model, known as UI Health Two-Gen, has…
An environment with ample displays of, and access to, mental health-related information can help to reduce stigma and empower women and their families to seek help, while letting women know that they are not alone. Place posters, pamphlets, and other materials throughout your offices. All new prenatal patients and their families, or other members of…
This is a review of evidence on the current understanding of mental health conditions in pregnancy and postpartum, with a focus on mood and anxiety disorders, and to outline guidelines for screening and diagnosis that are consistent with best available scientific evidence. The conditions or symptoms reviewed include depression, anxiety and anxiety-related disorders, bipolar disorder,…
Perinatal mood and anxiety disorders are among the most common complications that occur in pregnancy or in the first 12 months after delivery. Despite the negative effects on maternal, obstetric, birth, offspring, partner, and family outcomes, perinatal mental health disorders often remain underdiagnosed, and untreated or under-treated.
This searchable database is for aspiring and current healthcare professionals who are seeking perinatal mental health training to better support their patients and clients. Thank you for taking the time to expand your knowledge. We also acknowledge that working in health care can be challenging, and you deserve to be supported too, which is why…
Last Updated September 2023 Some states first established maternal mortality review committees (MMRCs) to investigate deaths related to pregnancy in the early 20th century, when rates were the highest on record. These jurisdictions reviewed deaths in an effort to understand why many women died in childbirth and to respond to poor medical practices and inadequate care…
Reproductive health care for incarcerated individuals should be provided in accordance with the same guidelines and recommendations as for those who are not incarcerated, with attention to the increased risk of infectious diseases and mental health conditions common to incarcerated populations. Ensuring that incarcerated individuals receive respectful, consistent, high-quality reproductive health, pregnancy, and postpartum care…
In 2023, recognizing that in the U.S., responsibility for healthcare systems and health outcomes largely fall to the states, the Policy Center introduced the inaugural maternal mental health reports to identify key data sets and track results by state. The 2024 report cards highlight progress and remaining areas of opportunity. In 2024, the overall national…
In the past 40 years, the number of women in prisons and jails in the United States has skyrocketed. Between 1980 and 2021, the percentage of incarcerated women increased by more than 525 percent, outpacing rates of incarcerated men during this time period. The most recent data from the Bureau of Justice Statistics shows yet another increase, with…
This job aid presents high-impact practices to care for people with substance use disorder (SUD) in the outpatient sexual and reproductive health setting, along with resources to support implementation. The accompanying measurement tool supports staff in collecting and using data to strengthen services for people with SUD. Both resources are part of a series of High Impact…
You can use the Maternal and Infant Health Mapping Tool to find county-level information on maternal and infant health. You can create and customize maps for your needs. This webpage contains both written instructions and video tutorials.
Recently, there has been a sharp increase in the number of babies born with syphilis in the United States.
Complications from pregnancy can happen over the course of pregnancy, during delivery, and up to one year after the end of pregnancy. These complications, which include cardiovascular conditions such as cardiomyopathy; hypertensive emergencies such as preeclampsia, eclampsia, and stroke; and conditions related to mental health such as suicide and overdose, can be life-threatening. Patients who…
The Minnesota Prison Doula Project (MnPDP) provides pregnancy and parenting support for incarcerated people. They provide birth support from trained doulas, as well as group-based and individual education and support. The goal is to nurture healthy parent-child relationships and increase parenting confidence and skills.
Almost one in four pregnancy-related deaths is attributed to mental health conditions, including substance use disorder (SUD), making them the leading underlying cause of pregnancy-related deaths. This special issue of the Maternal and Child Health Journal builds on the evidence base, with 21 open articles that feature the latest research, program, and policy initiatives in…
The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists has released a free online course to help clinicians address perinatal mental health. Developed through a partnership with Lifeline for Moms at UMass Chan Medical School, the course is available to obstetric care clinicians, trainees and allied health professionals.
This e-learning module focuses on exploring MCH policy and the policy process. This module is part of a series that provides Title V professionals with the tools, knowledge, and capacity to effectively engage in policy development, implementation, evaluation, and advocacy to ensure that policies affecting maternal and child health populations are effective, equitable, and evidence-based.
Technical workforce skills and evidence-based strategies are not necessarily sufficient to move the needle on maternal health outcomes; contextual factors such as challenging political environments, lack of leadership support, funding insufficiency, staff turnover, and historically inequitable programs and outcomes also influence the ability of MHIs and RMOMs to make an impact. These systems thinking and…
Since 2013, the Safe Motherhood Initiative has been working with obstetric hospitals in New York State to develop and implement standard approaches for handling obstetric emergencies associated with maternal mortality and morbidity. The Safe Motherhood Initiative focuses on the four leading causes of maternal death: maternal sepsis, obstetric hemorrhage (severe bleeding), venous thromboembolism (blood clots), and…
The National Maternal Mental Health Hotline provides 24/7, free, confidential support before, during, and after pregnancy. The Hotline offers callers:
Optimal clinical support in the early days, weeks, and months after childbirth is important for the health and well-being of new parents and their baby. The 4th Trimester Project supports clinical and system change to improve care for moms and the care experience for providers. In the For Providers section of their postpartum care website,…
You Quit, Two Quit, a program of the UNC Center for Maternal and Infant Health, was launched in July 2008. This program supports comprehensive tobacco use screening and cessation counseling for women of reproductive age, before, between and beyond pregnancy. You Quit, Two Quit can provide free training on evidence-based tobacco use screening and cessation counseling…
The purpose of this AMCHP-National Association of State and Alcohol Drug Abuse Directors (NASADAD) project is to highlight common harm reduction strategies used by state Maternal and Child Health (MCH) Title V programs and alcohol and drug abuse agencies to address the needs of pregnant and parenting women (PPW) who use substances. The goal of…
Preeclampsia Foundation is working to help research move forward to better understand how to diagnose, treat, and eventually prevent the poor outcomes preeclampsia can have on patients and their families. Learn more about the actions they’ve taken and the results they’ve discovered.
Approximately one in 20 people report using cannabis while pregnant, making it the most used federally illicit substance by pregnant people in the U.S., according to SAMSHA. The potential harms of perinatal cannabis use to maternal, fetal, and newborn health are well-documented. This publication is intended as a resource for state MCH professionals in designing…
Postpartum Support International offers a variety of certificate trainings in perinatal mental health for nurses, physicians, social workers, mental health providers, childbirth professionals, social support providers, or anyone interested in learning skills and knowledge for assessment and treatment of perinatal mood disorders.
This online module includes “real life” video scenarios with entertaining narratives, interactive Q&A, interviews with health care professionals, and short PowerPoint™ slide decks to provide 3 to 4 hours of evidence-based Inter-Professional (IPE) content for health professions students. Students will learn why human milk is critical for infant, maternal, and public health, and how professionals…
Postpartum Support International (PSI) brings together families, communities, and professionals working to support families during pregnancy, pregnancy loss, and the postpartum period. Explore their Professionals Section for information and links to the most current resources and opportunities for education, training, and patient tools.
Abstract Involvement of patients and the public is now recognized to be essential for the good conduct of research. Patient and public involvement in research priority setting and funding decisions is only beginning to be recognized as important, and methods for doing so are nascent. This protocol describes the Research Prioritization by Affected Communities (RPAC)…
The American College of Nurse-Midwives (ACNM) is a professional organization for certified nurse-midwives (CNMs) and certified midwives (CMs). They set standards for midwifery education and practice through programs and projects and offering continuing education opportunities and guidance for future midwives.
Association of Maternal & Child Health Programs (AMCHP) has developed a maternal health bill tracker. The tracker is designed to help anyone interested in maternal health policy stay on topic of the more than 30 federal bills introduced so far this year focused on improving maternal health in the U.S. The tracker provides key information…
This is a campaign from the Preeclampsia Foundation which focuses not just on repeating that preeclampsia survivors have risks beyond pregnancy, but recognizing its emotional impact and educating and empowering the community on what they can do to be their own best advocate beyond pregnancy.
This repository was compiled by the Johns Hopkins Center for Humanitarian Health and provides an overview of research on COVID-19, maternal and child health (including infants), and nutrition. This repository includes scientific publications from 1 February 2020 – 30 April 2021. They also built an interactive dashboard which allows users to sort publications by country, date, and publication type as well as search by keyword.
This free, 2-hour e-learning program is designed for providers and students seeking knowledge and skills related to cultural competency, cultural humility and person-centered care across the continuum of maternal health care. In Module 1, An introduction to CLAS in maternal health care, you will examine the role of CLAS in improving quality and eliminating disparities in…
This resource helps you stay informed about telehealth-related laws, regulations and Medicaid programs. The map and search options cover current laws and regulations for all fifty states and the District of Columbia.
Increasing women’s access to postpartum birth control has the potential to increase the health and well-being of women and their families, and immediate postpartum birth control can lead to a decrease in unplanned pregnancies, increased intervals between pregnancies, and a reduction in neonatal abstinence syndrome births (from drug exposure in the womb). Tennessee and California…
In addition to standardized clinical level of care assessment tools, the CDC makes available assessment outcome data for participating states, which can be used in conjunction with vital records data to track health outcomes, resources, and correlates.
Data at the national and state levels on pregnancy-related deaths.
An overview and link to state sites for all Perinatal Quality Collaboratives, including examples of data-driven QI projects.
A highly visual resource of maps, data indicators, and commentary on global maternal mortality.
This toolkit supports Title X grantees, sub-recipients, and service sites in implementing the Title X priority to screen family planning clients for substance use.
New rural maternal health research brief: Obstetric Emergencies in Rural Hospitals: Challenges and Opportunities. This policy brief from the University of Minnesota Rural Health Research Center describes the challenges rural hospitals face in providing emergency obstetric care and highlights resources that could help rural hospitals more safely respond to obstetric emergencies.
CDC’s Division of Reproductive Health is committed to healthy pregnancies and deliveries for every woman. The Hear Her campaign supports CDC’s efforts to prevent pregnancy-related deaths by sharing potentially life-saving messages about urgent warning signs. Women know their own bodies better than anyone and can often tell when something does not feel right. The campaign seeks to encourage partners, friends, family, coworkers,…
This project is supported by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) under grant number U7CMC53579, Maternal Health Training & Resource Center. This information or content and conclusions are those of the author and should not be construed as the official position nor policy of, nor should any endorsements be inferred by HRSA, HHS, or the U.S. Government.
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