Several educational partners have already been chosen, including national nurses’ associations that represent nurses at the bedside and advanced practice registered nurses. The project funding will allow these organizations to develop and disseminate a variety of helpful resources, like webinars, podcasts, web campaigns and other assets designed specifically to help nurses and midwives counsel and protect pregnant women and their families. 

These efforts also align with the White House Women’s Health Research Initiative to expand training in women’s health research and public health surveillance to nurses and advanced practice nurses. The goal of that program is to improve the health of women and children exposed to or affected by infectious diseases, mental health and substance use disorders. 

Hear Her®, a communications campaign launched in 2020, supports CDC’s efforts to prevent pregnancy-related deaths by raising awareness of urgent maternal warning signs. The campaign amplifies the stories of women who have experienced pregnancy and postpartum complications and encourages partners, friends, family and healthcare providers to really listen when those concerns are raised and offer help.

This Hear Her® campaign recognized the importance of creating culturally appropriate resources with and for American Indian and Alaska Native (AIAN) people, who are twice as likely to die of pregnancy-related causes than White women. AIAN community members often experience discrimination or racism and face barriers to care including higher rates of poverty and long distance to quality health care services. The communications assets for these audiences were developed to reflect the strength and diversity of AIAN communities and are based on their specific guidance and feedback. 

CDC worked with the National Indian Health Board to host discussion sessions open to all AIAN individuals and consulted other American Indian colleagues and advisors in the production of these assets.

Resources include:

• Video testimonials from American Indian women who experienced pregnancy-related complications. One of the participants noted, “This video speaks volumes. I am so satisfied and grateful that my story will be shared.”
• Conversation guides, palm cards and posters that help AIAN pregnant and postpartum people and their circles of support recognize urgent maternal warning signs and encourage them to seek the care they need.
• Materials to support healthcare professionals who serve AIAN communities in their delivery of respectful, culturally appropriate care.

It is quite touching, and indeed I am a little tearful, that I have been able to witness a nationwide campaign targeting American Indian and Alaska Native women through the Hear Her campaign. As you know, very little data exists on our population for a number of reasons, but essentially, the overwhelming message is that our voices and experiences are not important. The Hear Her campaign was an action that contradicts those messages. Our voices are important. -- Janelle Palacious, PhD, CNM (Salish & Kootenai), American Indian nurse midwife

The campaign team is utilizing digital and social media, including AIAN serving channels, to further the reach of these new resources. 

Learn more about the campaign and available resources at CDC.gov/HearHer/AIAN. 

Hear Her® is a registered trademark of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
 

Soon-to-be parents and their babies deserve the healthiest start possible. But maternal and infant deaths in the United States are still higher than any other developed nation, while black women are dying at twice the rate of white women. Public health is taking on these issues through several promising programs.

Perinatal Quality Collaboratives (PQCs) are networks of multidisciplinary teams made up of clinicians, providers, public health leaders, patients, families and others who work together on plans to improve health outcomes for pregnant women and infants in the U.S. Every state, as well as Washington, DC, has a PQC that meets to identify health care processes and clinical practices that could be strengthened and then begins to implement quality improvement (QI) initiatives, using the best available methods to effect change as quickly as possible. QI initiatives advance evidence-based clinical practices within health care centers and systems across states and across the nation. Learn more about how PQCs are working together to improve maternal outcomes.

The CDC Foundation, in partnership with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), is also helping PQCs learn how to evaluate their QI initiatives to make sure they’re meeting their goals. The webinar series below is designed to advise PQC staff and partners on how to perform evaluations, plan for and implement evaluations and ensure the findings are put into practice to improve QI initiatives.

CDC-funded PQCs can also register for targeted group assistance through office hours.