Supporting Maternal & Infant Health

Challenge

The U.S. has worse birth outcomes than most other developed countries. Compounding this problem are significant health and access-to-care disparities for women of color compared to white women, and for women who live in rural communities compared to those in urban areas. Racial minorities are up to four times more likely than white women to have pre-term births, low-birthweight babies, and late or no prenatal care. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data show that the Carolinas have exceeded the national average relative to pre-term birth and low-birthweight rates for the last five years. Outcomes continue to trend downward, yet are not experienced equally across the U.S., as shown by preterm births being 55 percent higher for Black women than white women.

Our Objective

Our vision is that all women in the Carolinas will be healthy during pregnancy and the postpartum period, and that newborns remain healthy during the critical first year of life.

Through our grantmaking, we seek to reduce disparities and improve important metrics such as the percentage of low-birthweight deliveries and pre-term births, infant and maternal mortality rates, and timely and accessible prenatal and postpartum care. We seek to advance our understanding of ​“what works” to build the evidence base for effective program models.

What We Fund

To create lasting change, we believe that patient engagement must be prioritized along with a holistic approach that considers the whole person. We invest in programs that prioritize preventive care for vulnerable populations. These programs are targeting resources that mitigate disparities by prioritizing timely and accessible prenatal and postpartum care and deploying supportive clinical and social resources.

We fund programs that advance the understanding of innovative workforce models such as doulas, nurse midwives and community health workers, leveraging virtual care technology and predictive analytics and ensuring access to appropriate behavioral health services.