Application Year Plan (FFY21):  This section presents strategies/activities for 2021-2025 MCH priorities related to Women/Maternal Health. See Five-Year State Action Plan Table for more information.

Maternal mortality is an indicator of health and health care quality. Maternal deaths can be prevented or reduced by improving both underlying maternal health and health care quality for leading causes of maternal death.

There are several national performance measures (NPMs) mapped to maternal mortality with NPM 1, well woman visit, being broad enough to touch on several topics that affect maternal outcomes during pregnancy and up to one year postpartum. These topics include mental health screening, preconception care, and substance use disorder care in the pre- and postnatal period. The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists stated in Committee Opinion 755 that the well woman visit is not only important for discussing maintaining healthy lifestyles and mitigating health risks, but also for performing screenings, evaluations, and counseling.

Of women respondents to a July 2020 public input survey, thirty-nine percent indicated that there are barriers that make it hard for them to see a doctor every year. Cited barriers included cost, lack of childcare, lack of insurance, needing to travel due to a lack of providers or specialists in the area, lack of female providers in the area, and needing to take time off work or limited after-work appointment slots.

In FFY21, the Women and Infant Health Program (WIHP) will implement the following strategies to address NPM 1:

1. Develop a culturally appropriate communication campaign using the My 307 Wellness app in the first year, with the potential to expand the campaign to other social media sources as MCH-specific pages are developed, to communicate the importance of a well woman visit for all women of reproductive age. The My 307 Wellness app is a free phone application that residents of Wyoming can use to learn more about their health and receive alerts on when it is time to schedule an exam with their primary care provider.

2. Conduct a gap analysis and map out Wyoming’s current mental health infrastructure for women of reproductive age in collaboration with partners such as the Wyoming Behavioral Health Division. The Wyoming Perinatal Quality Collaborative (WYPQC) will play a large role in conducting this gap analysis along with using Medicaid and Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System (PRAMS) data to identify and understand screening rates for postpartum depression and other mental illnesses.

3. Stand up a joint state Maternal Mortality Review Committee with the Utah Department of Health, create Wyoming-specific review protocols, and develop recommendations based on bi-annual reviews. The recommendations will be shared with the WYPQC to turn into action for system change. 

Eighty-four percent of July 2020 public input survey respondents indicated that they believe WIHP’s planned women/maternal work for 2021-2025 fits the needs of their community well or very well. One survey respondent stated that WIHP’s planned work “will give women access to better care and therefore increase their quality of life.” Another indicated, “This work affects each one of us in our communities. The wellness and healthy development of all pregnant mothers and infants is directly related to the future of all of our communities.”

Other Programmatic Activities

Wyoming Perinatal Quality Collaborative

The WIHP Manager will continue to provide support to the development and ongoing work of the WYPQC, including providing funding for a WYPQC Coordinator, meeting facilitation, and ongoing data support.