Maternal and Infant Health

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How Ohio’s Special Election Results Will Both Protect Abortion and Affect Maternal Mortality in the State Article
Photo shows several people at polling stations filling out their ballots in a well-lit room

How Ohio’s Special Election Results Will Both Protect Abortion and Affect Maternal Mortality in the State

Ohio’s Issue 1 ballot initiative to codify the legal status of abortion in the state constitution affects both abortion access and maternal mortality rates.

1 Year Without Roe Personal Story
Photo shows a closeup of a woman's hands, with one clasped around the other

1 Year Without Roe

Doctors, doulas, and nurse practitioners detail their experiences since the overturn of Roe v. Wade and their fears in the rapidly evolving legal landscape of abortion care.

D.C. Abortion Doula Fills Gaps in Support Systems Post-Roe Personal Story
Photo shows a hand holding a pink sign that reads

D.C. Abortion Doula Fills Gaps in Support Systems Post-Roe

An abortion doula in Washington, D.C., describes how restrictions on abortion and medication abortions hurt the marginalized communities they serve.

Advancing Access to Contraception in States Through Quality Measures and Person-Centered Contraceptive Counseling Report
In a close-up shot, a nurse's gloved hands hold a single-use needle to implant the birth control device in the patient's prepped arm.

Advancing Access to Contraception in States Through Quality Measures and Person-Centered Contraceptive Counseling

The fourth and final report in this Center for American Progress series highlighting best practices to improve and expand access to contraception at the state level focuses on the importance of contraceptive quality measures.

Kierra B. Jones

Fact Sheet: Challenges and Solutions to Improve Access to Contraception Through Section 1115 Medicaid Waivers and SPAs Fact Sheet
A woman has her vitals checked at a family planning center.

Fact Sheet: Challenges and Solutions to Improve Access to Contraception Through Section 1115 Medicaid Waivers and SPAs

This fact sheet accompanies a new Center for American Progress report on best practices to expand and improve access to contraception at the state level, covering common implementation challenges and offering recommendations to states pursuing family planning expansions through Section 1115 Medicaid waivers and state plan amendments (SPAs).

Kierra B. Jones

5 Facts About the PUMP for Nursing Mothers Act Article
Photo shows a woman bottle-feeding her baby in a baby carrier on the table.

5 Facts About the PUMP for Nursing Mothers Act

The PUMP for Nursing Mothers Act provides critical protections for women who choose to breastfeed in the workplace and expands protections in the 2010 Break Time for Nursing Mothers Act.

Becca Damante

Overturning Roe Will Exacerbate the Black Maternal Mortality Crisis. It’s Time for Our Leaders To Act In the News

Overturning Roe Will Exacerbate the Black Maternal Mortality Crisis. It’s Time for Our Leaders To Act

The Black Maternal Health Federal Policy Collective, including CAP's Osub Ahmed, writes about why Black women are three times more likely to die from a pregnancy-related cause than white women.

Ms. Magazine

Black Maternal Health Federal Policy Collective, Osub Ahmed

A Strong Start in Life: How Public Health Policies Affect the Well-Being of Pregnancies and Families Report
A mother kisses her child as her midwife examines her at a birthing center in South Los Angeles.

A Strong Start in Life: How Public Health Policies Affect the Well-Being of Pregnancies and Families

Understanding how the key social determinants of health—including housing, employment, and education—affect perinatal health is critical to ensuring that federal policies support healthy babies and families.

Hailey Gibbs, Marquisha Johns, Osub Ahmed, 2 More Maggie Jo Buchanan, Arohi Pathak

Policymakers Must Fund Home Visiting Programs During COVID-19 Report
A father helps his 1-year-old daughter walk as a family support worker visits the family's home, May 2013, in Virginia. (Getty/Matt McClain)

Policymakers Must Fund Home Visiting Programs During COVID-19

In states and tribal communities across the country, home visitors continue to support families’ basic needs and emotional well-being throughout a period of high stress and economic instability brought on by the pandemic and recession.

Cristina Novoa

Health Disparities by Race and Ethnicity Fact Sheet

Health Disparities by Race and Ethnicity

Alleviating stark disparities in health coverage, chronic health conditions, mental health, and mortality across racial and ethnic groups in the United States will require deliberate and long-term efforts.

Sofia Carratala, Connor Maxwell

Community-Based Doulas and Midwives Report
Joey McLeister/Star Tribune Minneapolis,Mn.,Thurs.,April 22, 2004--(Left to right) Hawa Ade was Muna Said Mohamed's doula for the birth of her eighth baby, two-month-old Mariam Mohamed at Fairview University Hospital.  Ade is a doula at Hennepin County Medical Center, too.  Mohamed said she was grateful for the massages from Ade which eased the pain of labor. GENERAL INFORMATION: At Fairview University Hospital, Somali women are helped by Somali doulas before and during birth. (Photo by JOEY MCLEISTER/Star Tribune via Getty Images) (A doula sits with a mother and her 2-month-old baby at a hospital in Minneapolis, April 2004.)

Community-Based Doulas and Midwives

The coronavirus pandemic further emphasizes the need for a range of accessible, affordable options for pregnancy-related care and support.

Nora Ellmann

Opportunities for States To Improve Infant Health Outcomes Report

Opportunities for States To Improve Infant Health Outcomes

Racial and ethnic disparities in infant health outcomes across states show the need for lawmakers to enact policies that will address the country’s infant health crisis.

Cristina Novoa

Interactive: Opportunities for States To Improve Infant Health Outcomes Interactive

Interactive: Opportunities for States To Improve Infant Health Outcomes

This interactive allows users to see states' progress toward implementing policies to improve maternal and infant mortality and eliminate racial disparities in health across three domains: healthy families, economic and work supports, and infant health outcomes.

Cristina Novoa, Mathew Brady

Building Momentum: State Progress on Early Learning in 2019 Article
Preschool students in Redondo Beach, California, take part in classroom activities, April 2010. (Getty/Scott Varley)

Building Momentum: State Progress on Early Learning in 2019

Governors and legislators across the country are taking much-needed steps to support families by investing in child care, preschool, and home visiting.

Steven Jessen-Howard

How Universal Home Visiting Models Can Support Newborns and Their Families Report
A mother holds her sleeping infant's hand. (Getty/Corbis News/Tim Clayton)

How Universal Home Visiting Models Can Support Newborns and Their Families

Universal home visiting models can have a positive impact on communities by serving all families and connecting those most in need to additional community resources.

Cristina Novoa, Simon Workman

Related Priorities

Tackling Climate Change and Environmental Injustice

Tackling Climate Change and Environmental Injustice

We pursue climate action that meets the crisis’s urgency, creates good-quality jobs, benefits disadvantaged communities, and restores U.S. credibility on the global stage.

Strengthening Health

Strengthening Health

We work to strengthen public health systems and improve health care coverage, access, and affordability.

Advancing Racial Equity and Justice

Advancing Racial Equity and Justice

We apply a racial equity lens in developing and advancing policies that aim to root out entrenched systemic racism to ensure everyone has an opportunity to thrive.

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