Maternal Child Health Project
Dr. Rauner's presentations on maternal child health in Nebraska.
MCH Project Overview
The ALIGN Nebraska Prenatal Care and Infant Mortality Policy Brief is a detailed view of prenatal care and infant mortality in Nebraska, plus measurable steps to improve outcomes for all moms and babies by 2030.
The Maternal Child Health project began in 2020 as an initiative to coordinate with Lincoln 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 since shifted focus and expanded to four Nebraska communities - Lincoln, Crete, Grand Island and Lexington - currently working on identifying barriers to accessing early and adequate prenatal care and implementing solutions to those barriers. 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 be found online at HealthyLincoln.org/HealthyMoms.
In Grand Island, maternal child health efforts include the Grand Island Prenatal Care Access Coalition bringing together health providers, community organizations and advocates to identify and address barriers to accessing prenatal care in the area. The coalition created a pregnancy and postpartum resource guide in English and Spanish to help women navigate the healthcare system in Grand Island and find the resources they need through their pregnancy journey.
In Crete, Public Health Solutions developed the Becoming a Mom Prenatal Navigation program available in English and Spanish to any new or experienced mom in their service area regardless of income. It offers a wide range of services including: one-on-one support from a CHW in-person or virtual to fit mom’s schedule, prenatal education based on March of Dimes curriculum, help finding prenatal care, resources for baby items, referrals to services and application assistance for WIC, Medicaid and SNAP, and emotional support and birth planning.
Annual Nebraska Maternal Child Health Summit
In November 2024 and 2025, 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, Nebraska Perinatal Quality Improvement Collaborative and Nebraska Department of Health & Human Services hosted the Nebraska Maternal Child Health Summit. In both years, the summit brought together nearly 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 2025 panel sessions included discussion on maternal child health federal and state policy, universal newborn home visiting, rural maternal health access, fetal infant mortality review, maternal mental health, barrier to care and safe sleep/SUIDS. To view the 2025 MCH Summit agenda, slides, presenter bios and photos, go to the Summit Website.
Maternal Child Health Data
Click on the icons below to access interactive data by subject matter, or view all data on the Healthy Nebraska Tableau site. By selecting options in the graphs you can find trusted data on maternal and infant health issues in Nebraska and also compare Nebraska statistics to other states.
