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$900K in state funding to assist regional nonprofit in improving NEPA maternal health outcomes

Maternal and Family Health Services is one of four organizations chosen statewide to address gaps in maternal healthcare.
Submitted by MFHS
Maternal and Family Health Services is one of four organizations chosen statewide to address gaps in maternal healthcare.

Pennsylvania’s maternal health crisis is intensifying.

Maternal and Family Health Services (MFHS) will receive nearly a million dollars in state funding to aid its efforts to combat that crisis in Northeast Pennsylvania.

“If we don't have healthy children, we're not going to have healthy adults,” MFHS CEO Maria Montoro Edwards said, adding that focusing on maternal and infant health is important for a healthy society.

Maria Montoro Edwards is MFHS's CEO.
Submitted by MFHS
Maria Montoro Edwards is MFHS's CEO.

According to the Commonwealth’s 2024 March of Dimes report card, outcomes have worsened in five out of six of the ranking factors for maternal and infant health, including preterm births and infant mortality.

MFHS has launched a coalition to help identify gaps in maternal healthcare in 14 NEPA counties that they hope to implement by the end of the three years.

The coalition serves Bradford, Carbon, Lackawanna, Lehigh, Luzerne, Northampton, Monroe, Pike, Sullivan, Susquehanna, Schuylkill, Tioga, Wayne and Wyoming.

MFHS is one of four grant recipients across the state. The other recipients are: The Pennsylvania State University in the South Central region, Family Health Council of Central Pennsylvania, Inc. in the Central region and Maternity Care Coalition in the Southeast region.

Each organization will receive $900,000 over three years to, “help improve care for pregnant women and babies by addressing maternal health issues at the local level through the creation and enhancement of regional coalitions” according to a Department of Health press release.

The coalition is in its exploratory phase. Over this first year, funding will focus on research. Research efforts include but are not limited to: locating birthing hospitals across the counties, identifying resources, finding coverage gaps and conducting focus groups to gauge lived experiences of mothers.

“First we need to dig deep into what's contributing to these factors, because It's not just one cause,” MFHS COO Shannon Hayward said. “It really is a variety of issues, and I think that's why it's important that we're convening this and bringing all of our partners to the table to be part of the solution.”

Shannon Hayward is MFHS's COO.
DAN KIMBROUGH
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Submitted by MFHS
Shannon Hayward is MFHS's COO.

MFHS expects some key themes to emerge from the research. Montoro Edwards expects postpartum care to be consistently lacking across the region.

“We're going to see that there's a lot of need in behavioral health,” Montoro Edwards said. “Postpartum anxiety and depression are huge issues, and the resources available to address those, to link a patient with care, is very difficult.”

According to the Pennsylvania Department of Health, “Mental health conditions, which include drug-related overdose deaths, were the leading cause of pregnancy-related deaths in 2020.” This is based on the 2024 Pennsylvania Maternal Mortality Review Annual Report using data from 2020.

Gov. Josh Shapiro recently signed House Bill 2127, which is, “an act requiring information relating to perinatal or postpartum mood and anxiety disorders and resources to be provided to pregnant patients.” While it’s a step in providing mothers with more comprehensive postpartum care, she said there is still more work to be done.

Insights from WIC program

MFHS describes itself as the largest WIC agency in Pennsylvania, serving a quarter of the state’s participants in the federal Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children.

Their experience with WIC is helping them in the coalition’s first phase.

“Our focus on WIC as our largest program gives us a lot of insight into what families are struggling with during pregnancy and the postpartum period,” Hayward said. “A lot of it has to do with access to prenatal and postpartum care, beyond what WIC is able to offer.”

Montoro Edwards expects transportation to be another prevailing issue.

“The problem, too, is transportation,” she said. “Gas is expensive. We provide gas cards. We use Uber health. We use a myriad of different ways to help people get to their appointments.”

While MFHS already provides transportation assistance for people to get to appointments, Montoro Edwards said they would look to expand that program if her prediction that it’s a large barrier for maternal healthcare is correct.

Addressing maternal care deserts

Another issue to contend with will be rural counties that have limited or no access to maternal healthcare.

This map shows Pennsylvania's maternity care deserts and counties that only have moderate access to maternal healthcare.
The Hospital and Healthsystem Association of Pennsylvania
This map shows Pennsylvania's maternity care deserts and counties that only have moderate access to maternal healthcare.

Among the 14 counties the coalition serves are two that are considered maternal healthcare deserts by the Hospital and Healthsystem Association of Pennsylvania: Wyoming and Sullivan. These are two of only five maternal healthcare deserts in the entire state. Several of the other counties covered by the coalition are considered to only have moderate access to maternal healthcare.

The coalition will be tasked with implementing solutions across a diverse group of counties.

“One of the things that's so interesting about Pennsylvania is that the counties that we're serving are so different,” Montoro Edwards said. “So our outcome with this project is to develop an action plan for our region, but that's going to look very different depending on where you live.”

McPhatter to lead coalition

MFHS tapped London McPhatter to lead the coalition. Armed with a public health background, McPhatter is excited to create and implement solutions to NEPA’s declining maternal healthcare status.

MFHS tapped London McPhatter to run its coalition.
Submitted by MFHS
MFHS tapped London McPhatter to run its coalition.

“I am truly honored to have been selected for this important role,” McPhatter said. “I am passionate about making a positive impact on the lives of mothers and their families, and I am excited to collaborate with the dedicated professionals and community members involved in this coalition.”

Her racial identity motivates her to help others with similar backgrounds.

According to the Pennsylvania Department of State, “Non-Hispanic Black or African American individuals had the highest PAMR [Pregnancy-Associated Mortality Ratio] (148 per 100,000 live births), which is much higher than the PAMR for non-Hispanic white individuals (81 per 100,000 live births).” This is based on 2020 data within the 2024 Pennsylvania Maternal Mortality Review Annual Report.

“As a Black, millennial woman, I am largely aware of the challenges and disparities that women in my age group face when it comes to maternal health,” McPhatter said. “Black women are more likely to experience severe complications during pregnancy and childbirth and have a higher maternal mortality rate compared to their White counterparts.”

McPhatter hopes to engage the community through the coalition so that the solutions implemented at the end of its three year tenure are reflective of community needs.

“My biggest hope is that we have a lot of engagement, because I feel like the engagement will be what helps us on figuring out what we need to work on throughout the different 14 counties that we'll be serving,” she said. “I just want to improve the outcomes for maternal health mortality. That is the biggest goal for me.”

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