On Maternal Health Awareness Day, First Lady Tammy Murphy announced a partnership between the Murphy Administration, the Nicholson Foundation, and the Community Health Acceleration Partnership to develop a comprehensive, statewide maternal and infant health strategic plan.
The strategic plan will aim to reduce New Jersey’s maternal mortality rate by 50% and eliminate racial disparities in birth outcomes. The plan will be part of the First Lady’s Nurture NJ initiative, which is a statewide awareness campaign committed to reducing infant and maternal mortality and morbidity and ensuring equitable maternal and infant care among women and children of all ethnicities and races.
“In order to improve health outcomes for New Jersey’s mothers and babies, we must continue to work at repairing the centuries of imbedded, institutional racism that has led to disparities in maternal and infant health,” said First Lady Murphy. “As we do this, we are simultaneously working on the factors that contribute to the disparity, including access to healthcare, housing, transportation, nutritious food, quality childcare, workforce development, education, and more. Our comprehensive and innovative strategic plan will incorporate national best practices for improving these factors and identify the best plan to make New Jersey the safest place in the country to give birth.”
The plan will integrate community engagement and evidence-based strategies, and will include a statewide assessment of existing infrastructure to support improvements in maternal and infant health. The plan will examine community investments, clinical and social factors, private sector engagement, and policy development.
Work will be further informed by talking directly to women across the state; interviewing and engaging the Administration’s 18 collaborating agencies; working with leading state health providers; and talking to a range of community-based organizations.
In parallel, the plan will incorporate national best practices for improving maternal and infant health and eliminating disparities, in order to identify areas where state activities could better align with scientific evidence. To set up Nurture NJ for long-term success, the comprehensive plan will include specific, actionable recommendations for all stakeholders, and a concrete implementation plan for ensuring equity for mothers, babies, and their families.
In addition to First Lady Murphy and leadership from the Murphy Administration, the Nurture NJ strategic planning team will be led by Dr. Vijaya Hogan, a perinatal epidemiologist and Clinical Associate Professor at the Gillings School of Global Public Health at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, and supported by Dr. Debra Bingham, an expert in perinatal quality improvement, Elizabeth Lee, a public health policy consultant, and other experts. The strategic planning team collectively holds over 125 years of experience and represents the great diversity of thought that is needed to address New Jersey’s maternal and infant health crisis.
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