Women/Maternal Health

Application Year - FY2025

The following section outlines strategies and activities to be implemented between 10/1/2024-9/30/2025 to meet the objectives and show improvement on the measures related to women’s and maternal health:

PRIORITY: Improve Oral Health

NPMs, NOMs, SPMs, and ESMs:

• PDV-Pregnancy/NPM 13.1: Percent of women who had a preventive dental visit during pregnancy
• TDC/NOM 14: Percent of children, ages 1 through 17, who have decayed teeth or cavities in the past year
• SOC/NOM 17.2: Percent of children with special health care needs (CSHCN), ages 0 through 17, who receive care in a well-functioning system
• CHS/NOM 19: Percent of children, ages 0 through 17, in excellent or very good health
• PDV-Pregnancy.1/ESM 13.1.1: Number of pregnant and postpartum women who received oral health education

Objective:

• By September 30, 2025, increase the percentage of women who have a preventive dental visit in pregnancy by 10%

Strategy: Provide education to women on the safety and importance of proper oral health during pregnancy and postpartum.

Activities:

• Implement oral health promotion and messaging through the WIC Shopper app
• Coordinate efforts with WIC and home visiting/case management programs to improve access and utilization of dental services for program participants

PRIORITY: Improve Access to Care

NPMs, NOMs, SPMs, and ESMs:

• WWV/NPM 1: Percent of women, ages 18-44, with a preventive medical visit in the past year
• SMM/NOM 2: Rate of severe maternal morbidity per 10,000 delivery hospitalizations
• MM/NOM 3: Maternal mortality rate per 100,000 live births
• LBW/NOM 4: Percent of low birth weight deliveries (<2,500 grams)
• PTB/NOM 5: Percent of preterm births (<37 weeks)
• ETB/NOM 6: Percent of early term births (37, 38 weeks)
• PNM/NOM 8: Perinatal mortality rate per 1,000 live births plus fetal deaths
• IM/NOM 9.1: Infant mortality rate per 1,000 live births
• IM-Neonatal/NOM 9.2: Neonatal mortality rate per 1,000 live births
• IM-Postneonatal/NOM 9.3: Post neonatal mortality rate per 1,000 live births
• IM-Preterm Related/NOM 9.4: Preterm-related mortality rate per 100,000 live births
• DP/NOM 10: Percent of women who drink alcohol in the last 3 months of pregnancy
• NAS/NOM 11: Rate of neonatal abstinence syndrome per 1,000 birth hospitalizations
• TB/NOM 23: Teen birth rate, ages 15 through 19, per 1,000 females
• PPD/NOM 24: Percent of women who experience postpartum depressive symptoms following a recent live birth
• WWV.5/ESM 1.5: Promote the use of the Mississippi Quitline and Baby and Me Tobacco Free to assist women in quitting smoking during pregnancy

Objectives:

• By September 30, 2025, increase the number of family planning users within MSDH clinics by 5% (from 20,839 to 21,880).
• By September 30, 2025, increase the number of Family Planning Waiver beneficiaries receiving family planning services within MSDH clinics by 5% (from 4,254 to 4,467).
• By September 30, 2025, increase the number of women enrolled in the MS Breast and Cervical Cancer Program by 10% (from 3,548 to 3,903).
• By September 30, 2025, 90% of enrolled women, actively participating in a home visiting/case management program will be screened for pregnancy intention and provided interconception care education and support to access services as needed.
• By September 30, 2025, increase the number of pregnant/postpartum women participating in a case management/home visiting program by 30% (from 923 to 1,200).
• By September 30, 2025, increase the number of outside MSDH referrals for a case management/home visiting program by 20% (from 1,867 to 2,240).
• By September 30, 2025, promote 15 or more health observances, activities, or educational campaigns related to women’s health via media, social media, and other public-facing platforms.

Strategy: MCH-serving/supported programs will collaborate with internal and external partners to develop promotional strategies to increase family planning users.

Activities:

• Collaborate with other MSDH departments to train all MSDH clerical and clinical staff who support family planning users on the “Going Gold” project to increase the number of Family Planning Waiver beneficiaries accessing services.
• Optimize telehealth visits to provide family planning visits to MSDH patients.
• Collaborate with other health systems on referrals for patients needing family planning services.

Strategy: MCH-serving/supported programs will work with internal and external partners to identify opportunities for collaboration in providing services geared toward improving women’s/maternal health.

Activities:

• Extend existing or select by competitive RFP, subgrantees, including health systems or community-based partners, to execute specific activities for recruitment, referral, enrollment, direct services, and participant navigation to address SDOHs of MCH program participants that improve women’s/maternal health.
• Engage with other MCH-serving programs to share lessons learned to advance program knowledge. Activities may include hosting or participating in local/regional meetings calls, participating in peer-to-peer calls, presentations delivered by webinar, mentoring other programs, technical assistance, etc.
• Develop and maintain local resource/referral directories with internal and external partners to collaborate on improving health for new and pregnant parents enrolled in home visiting programs.

Strategy: Home visiting/case management programs will develop and improve relationships with internal and external partners to increase referrals to the program.

Activities:

• Identify 3-4 potential healthcare settings, community-based, faith-based, social, volunteer service organizations, homeless/domestic violence shelters, residential programs, treatment programs, housing complexes, etc. to outreach per quarter and request opportunities to share information with “gatekeepers” of (i.e., community health workers, patient navigators, care coordinators, case managers, faith leaders, non-profit social service workers, helpers, etc.) or to the target population.
• Optimize MSDH electronic health record (Epic) and other platforms to create referral management processes and templates for use by external and internal referral sources to home visiting/case management programs.

Strategy: MCH programs will collaborate on health promotion activities, health observances, and other outreach/engagement strategies to increase awareness of women’s/maternal health issues.

Activities:

• Collaborate with the Office of Communications to promote CDC/HRSA/other approved messaging related to women’s health issues etc. Prepare social media post schedules and templates for observance months/days.
• Maximize available funding and in-kind support to develop or enhance direct health education approaches for consumers of MCH-serving programs focused on improving women’s health issues (i.e., breast and cervical cancer screening, well-woman/preventive health visits)

Strategy: MCH-serving/supported programs will work with internal and external partners to provide information and linkages to services to promote tobacco cessation among pregnant parents.

Activities:

• Update intake and ongoing assessments across all MCH programs serving new and pregnant parents to inquire about tobacco use and interest in tobacco cessation assistance.
• Develop and maintain local resource/referral directories with internal and external partners to collaborate on promoting tobacco cessation among new and pregnant parents enrolled in home visiting programs.

PRIORITY: Reduce Maternal Morbidity and Mortality

NPMs, NOMs, SPMs, and ESMs:

• PPV: A) Percent of women who attended a postpartum checkup within 12 weeks after giving birth B) Percent of women who attended a postpartum checkup and received recommended care components
• SPM 10: Percent of severe maternal mortality events related to hypertension
• SPM 16: Nulliparous, term singleton, vertex (NTSV) cesarean rate

Objectives:

• By September 30, 2025, produce the annual Maternal Mortality Report inclusive of 2017-2021 maternal deaths to include recommendations for preventing maternal deaths.
• By September 30th, 2025, increase the number of birthing hospitals and other health systems implementing one or more AIMS Safety Bundles by 10% (from 41 to 46).
• By September 30, 2025, 10 pregnant women will have been referred to a home visiting/case management program to support syphilis treatment before delivery.
• By September 30, 2025, participate in at least 18 community outreach events to address maternal mortality disparities and promote Maternal Mortality Review Committee recommendations.
• By September 30, 2025, increase the number of postpartum women participating in a case management/home visiting program who attend a postpartum checkup within 12 weeks and receive recommended care components by 5%.

Strategy: Provide administrative support and coordination with other MSDH Offices, health facilities, state agencies, et al. for the maternal mortality review case abstraction, exploration, and determination process for all maternal deaths through the Maternal Mortality Review Committee.

Activities:

• Engage with other Maternal Mortality Review Committees to share lessons learned to advance program knowledge, including hosting or participating in local/regional meetings or peer-to-peer calls, presentations delivered by webinar, mentoring other programs, technical assistance, etc.
• Implement findings from a focus group project including impressions, perceptions, and experiences of women who have given birth in Mississippi to make recommendations, plan additional strategies, and distribute MCH resources/programming to impact maternal health outcomes.
• Continue and expand maternal hypertension and gestational diabetes supports, to include education on urgent maternal and postpartum warning signs, for participants of MSDH home visiting/case management programs.
• Streamline the referral process for pregnant women with positive syphilis findings to home visiting/case management programs.

Strategy: Provide and/or partner with other stakeholders to offer educational opportunities and evidence-based trainings to birthing hospitals and other systems on strategies to reduce severe maternal mortality and morbidity.

Activities:

• Support the uptake/maintenance/continued implementation of AIMS Safety Bundles (i.e., severe maternal hypertension, obstetric hemorrhage, and reduction of primary caesarean births) in birthing hospitals and other health systems.
• Support the launch/uptake of new AIMS Safety Bundles (i.e., postpartum discharge transitions, perinatal mental health) in birthing hospitals and other health systems. 
• Host the Annual Mississippi Maternal Health Conference to support future strategic planning on maternal health issues and mortality/morbidity prevention approaches

Strategy: MCH-serving/supported programs will work with internal and external partners (including consumers) to identify opportunities for collaboration in providing services geared toward reducing maternal mortality based on MMRC recommendations.

Activity:

• Extend existing or select by competitive RFP, subgrantees, including health systems or community-based partners, to execute specific activities for providing health promotion, health education, and health equity-focused activities that improve maternal health (prenatal, perinatal, postpartum, and/or interconception)
• Update intake and ongoing assessments across all MCH programs serving new and pregnant parents to track postpartum checkups.
• Develop and distribute educational materials on the need for prenatal and postpartum care and eligibility for public insurance under the presumptive eligibility change and extended postpartum period.

Strategy: Lead the promotion of health observances, and other outreach/engagement strategies to increase public awareness of maternal health issues.

Activities:

• Collaborate with the Office of Communications to promote CDC/HRSA/other approved messaging related to maternal health issues (prenatal, perinatal, postpartum, and/or interconception) etc. Prepare social media post schedules and templates for observance months/days. 
• Maximize available funding and in-kind support to develop or enhance direct health education approaches for consumers of MCH-serving programs focused on improving maternal health issues.