HCAI Maternal Health Overview

HCAI Maternal Health Overview

Purpose of MCAH (Maternal, Child, and Adolescent Health)

  • Strategies to improve maternal health, infant development, and the welfare of children and adolescents, including special health care needs.
  • Focus on equity across the reproductive life course.

MCAH Collaborative Efforts

  • Works with Local Health Jurisdictions (LHJs) and Community-Based Organizations (CBOs) to promote policy changes.
  • Aims to make healthy choices accessible to families in California.

MCAH Programs and Initiatives

  • Adolescent Family Life Program: Provides sexual health education.
  • Adverse Pregnancy Outcomes Prevention (APOP): Focuses on reducing adverse outcomes in pregnancies.
  • Black Infant Health (BIH): Supports Black mothers and their infants to improve health outcomes.
  • California Home Visiting Program (CHVP): Offers home visiting services.
  • Maternal and Infant Health Assessment (MIHA): Surveys to understand maternal and infant health needs.
  • Perinatal Equity Initiative (PEI): Aims to improve birth outcomes for Black infants.

Key Initiatives and Programs

CA-PARC (California Pregnancy-Associated Review Committee)
  • Monitors and investigates maternal deaths to identify prevention strategies.
  • Provides timely and accurate statewide surveillance through case reviews.
  • Future activities include developing a Severe Maternal Morbidity (SMM) Committee.
Adverse Pregnancy Outcomes Prevention (APOP)
  • Supports the CA Momnibus Act (SB 65), translating data into community-informed prevention strategies.
  • New initiatives include family interviews to enhance case reviews.
Regional Perinatal Programs of California (RPPC)
  • Promotes equitable systems of care for pregnant individuals and their newborns.
  • Facilitates quality improvement through facility data and evidence-based strategies.
Data Dashboards
  • MCAH Data Dashboards track maternal health metrics, including the Pregnancy-Related Mortality Ratio (PRMR).
  • Comparison of PRMR in California vs. the national average highlights significant disparities based on race and ethnicity.

Health Professional Shortage Area (HPSA)

  • Identifies areas with limited access to healthcare professionals.
  • Criteria for designation includes population-to-provider ratios and accessibility.
Maternity Care Target Areas (MCTA)
  • MCTAs are designated within HPSAs experiencing shortages of maternity care professionals.
  • Scoring considers factors such as population income levels and travel distances to care.

Barriers to Maternity Care

  • Distance to care correlates with adverse outcomes like preterm births and maternal mortality.
  • At least 56 maternity wards have closed in California, exacerbating travel distances for care.
Proposed Solutions
  • Increasing use of midwives and birth centers to meet rural demands.
  • Proposed legislation aims to improve access through standby perinatal services and changes in licensing requirements.

Funding Opportunities for Maternal Health

  • Programs like the Song Brown Certified Nurse Midwifery Program aim to expand midwifery training slots.
  • Scholarships and loan repayment programs available for allied health professionals.

Conclusion

  • The need for improving maternal health care access and reducing disparities is critical and requires collaborative community efforts.