Despite new data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) establishing four out of five pregnancy-related deaths as preventable, more than 860 individuals died in 2020 in the United States as a result of complications while pregnant, during delivery or within the first year after delivery. These findings, along with the fact that more than half of pregnancy-related deaths occur between one week and one year after delivery, underscore the need for comprehensive pregnancy and postpartum care.

Given the outsized role of Medicaid in maternal health—accounting for 75% of all public expenditures for family planning services and covering close to half of all births nationally—state policymakers have both a moral imperative and a major opportunity to improve and protect the health and well-being of their pregnant/postpartum residents and their infants and families.

In a compendium prepared for the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s State Health and Value Strategies program, Manatt Health provides information on strategies to improve maternal health outcomes. The compendium synthesizes research about the national state of play, including state examples, across four domains:

• Maternal health models
• Quality improvement
• Workforce and benefits
• Eligibility and enrollment/coverage expansion

To access the full compendium, click here.