Maternal & Child Health

This 2024 vignette provides examples of how a range of OS-PCORTF cross-agency projects are working to improve maternal health by 1)Reducing Preventable Pregnancy-Related Deaths and Improving Maternity Care 2) Studying Substance Use Treatment Outcomes for Pregnant Women 3) Representing all American Mothers and Children in Research Data

Improving maternal health in the U.S. requires strengthening care and support during pregnancy, childbirth, and the postpartum period. Doula services have shown promise in improving maternal and infant outcomes, yet more research is needed to understand these impacts.

This Issue Brief provides a descriptive analysis of postpartum health care use among the Medicaid population before and during the PHE, when the continuous enrollment condition was in effect.

The first brief below provides insight into children’s and adolescents’ mental health service use in Medicaid and CHIP during the pandemic, by using a national Medicaid claims database.

This series of five case studies describe evidence-based, innovative, and exemplary practices that support positive mental health for children. The case studies in five organizations highlight key elements of prevention and promotion efforts in early childhood mental health, as well as the contextual factors that support implementation.Available Reports:

Efforts to promote positive mental health and prevent the onset of mental health difficulties are crucial for supporting healthy early childhood social-emotional development and well-being.

This Issue Brief examines the impact of Medicaid throughout its six decades and highlights the importance of Medicaid coverage for low-income children and adults. The brief reviews studies showing that access to Medicaid coverage is associated with a significant improvement in health and mortality.

This study represents findings from a descriptive analysis of a linked mother-child Medicaid claims dataset to examine the characteristics of pregnant women who use medication for opioid use disorder (MOUD) or intensive behavioral health treatment; additional analysis describes the mental health and neurodevelopment outcomes of their children at one year and three years.

This report has been prepared by the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health (OASH), Office on Women's Health (OWH) and the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation (ASPE) in concert with other HHS agencies within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). This report discusses activities and outcomes of HHS programs addressing the maternal health crisis.

This brief describes progress in the Child Welfare and Health Infrastructure for Linking and Data Analysis of Resources, Effectiveness, and Needs (CHILDREN) Initiative, which is entering its second year. At this time, four jurisdictions have been selected for participation in the CHILDREN Initiative and are engaging in feasibility studies to determine readiness for linking data.