Medicaid Makes It Possible for patients seeking maternal health to get high-quality care.
Nearly half of all births in the United States are covered by Medicaid, and every year close to half-a-million babies are delivered in U.S. Catholic hospitals.
In the mid- to late 1800s, the founders of America's Catholic hospitals began by focusing on care for women and children, particularly in communities with high immigrant populations that lacked access to medical care. Today, Catholic health providers continue that tradition by providing a wide range of high-quality prenatal, obstetric, and postnatal services for women and infants. With 300 of our hospitals offering obstetric services and staffing more than 3,500 neonatal and pediatric intensive care beds, Catholic health care remains committed to caring for our youngest and most vulnerable patients and their moms.
We invite you to learn more about our commitment to maternal health and the many innovative programs CHA members offer for moms and babies in the videos and articles below.
Maternal Health Articles
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Fall 2024Health care is multifaceted, but the overall goal is to help people live their healthiest lives, regardless of who they are or where they live. This takes many forms, from prevention and health education, to clinical care and connection, to social and community-based services. Understanding patients, their cultures and preferences, their barriers and levels of health literacy is part of the equation that must be considered when working toward this goal. -
Fall 2024The Ripple Effect of 'WASH' in Catholic Health Care
When the Daughters of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul first arrived in Ondo State in Nigeria in 1988, they found fertile agriculture as well as fertile ground for disease and severely limited health care. In 1995, they made a giant health care leap. They opened St. Catherine's Hospital and Maternity. The initial site and building, which were donated, grew to accommodate the remote community's needs. They do not charge patients. -
Summer 202410 Actions Hospitals Can Take to End Maternal Mortality in the U.S.
The U.S. has a problem with maternal mortality, and it is not getting better. The trend has been even more alarming in recent years. According to CDC data, in 2021, the maternal mortality rate was 32.9 deaths per 100,000 live births, which was up from 23.8 in 2020 and 20.1 in 2019. -
Summer 2024How Local Partnerships Can Improve Maternal and Infant Health, Address Structural Barriers
The well-being of mothers, infants and children is important to a thriving community and can determine the health of future generations and impact future public health challenges. -
Spring 2024Sowing the Seeds for Human Flourishing
This past year, CHA introduced a new vision statement: We Will Empower Bold Change to Elevate Human Flourishing. It's an aspirational call to each of us in the Catholic health ministry. With just nine words, CHA's vision statement makes it clear that the health systems of tomorrow must be innovative and courageous, while embracing a mandate to further extend ourselves into all aspects of human flourishing. -
Winter 2024From Crisis to Collaboration: Uniting for Healthy Communities
"The hurrier I go, the behinder I get," said the white rabbit in Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. So many people in public health could be forgiven if they expressed this sentiment as well. While the public health sector has made substantial progress in fostering healthy communities by identifying and, more importantly, addressing the social determinants of health, the nation has moved backwards. -
Summer 2023Careful Understanding of Patient Needs Lies at the Heart of Care
A man was brought into the emergency room at Mercy Health — St. Charles Hospital in Oregon, Ohio, suffering from hyperglycemia. He had rapid breathing, confusion, excess sugar in his urine and heart palpitations, and was admitted to the ICU. -
Summer 2023Understanding Veterans' Unique Needs Is Crucial to Their Care
When I joined the U.S. Army in 1999, I never envisioned myself being sent to war. However, on September 11, 2001, the world drastically changed, and by May of 2003, I was boarding a plane to Southwest Asia. That year — as a combat medic with the 389th Engineer Battalion in Baghdad, Iraq — was the part of my military experience, if not of my life, that led me to some deep realizations. -
Summer 2023How the ERDs Can Deepen Our Catholic Identity
To help clear any possible misunderstandings when having discussions around the ERDs, I suggest some strategies I use in my work in Catholic health care. -
Fall 2022Partners in Healing at the Intersection of Medicine and Mission
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Summer 2021Improving Maternal and Infant Outcomes
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Summer 2020Against All Odds: How One Hospital Refuses To Let Systemic Racism Affect Quality of Care