Maternal Child Health Project Summary
The Maternal Child Health project is an initiative started in Lincoln in coordination with pediatric and maternal healthcare providers to focus on improving the quality of healthcare provided to children and pregnant women through ongoing quality improvement projects. The project has expanded to other Nebraska communities to increase access to quality prenatal care in order to help reduce the rates of preterm birth and other maternal/neonatal complications.
In 2020, the project focused on well-child examinations for children less than 6 years old and perinatal depression screening. In 2021, the project also focused on childhood vaccinations, among other quality measures. In 2022, Partnership for a Healthy Nebraska started working with partners to identify strategies for improving perinatal and maternal health outcomes in Nebraska. Barriers that limit access to prenatal care were identified and processes were explored to improve early pregnancy notification (defined as within the first trimester or within 42 days of enrollment in Medicaid) for Medicaid patients and other vulnerable populations. Read the ALIGN Nebraska Prenatal Care and Infant Mortality Policy Brief - a detailed view of prenatal care and infant mortality in Nebraska, plus measurable steps to improve outcomes for all moms and babies by 2030.
In November 2024, Partnership for a Healthy Nebraska in collaboration with the University of Nebraska Medical Center College of Public Health, Creighton University Institute for Population Health, First Five Nebraska, and the Nebraska Perinatal Quality Improvement Collaborative hosted the first Nebraska Maternal Child Health Summit. The summit brought together over 200 people from all over the state working in many sectors of maternal child health - physicians, community health workers, maternal health advocates, lawmakers and mental health professionals - to discuss ways to improve perinatal outcomes in Nebraska on many levels. The panel sessions included discussion on using data to drive outcomes, maternal mental health, overcoming barriers to care and policy options to advance maternal child health.
The project is currently working with partners in four communities - Lincoln, Crete, Grand Island and Lexington - on solutions to the barriers identified to accessing early and adequate prenatal care. In the Lincoln area, a resource guide was developed as a trusted directory of resources to support families in a healthy pregnancy and postpartum journey. View the Lincoln Community Resources for Pregnancy & Postpartum Care. Also available in Spanish. These resources can also be found at HealthyLincoln.org/PregnancyCare.
View Maternal Child Health Project data.
