Improve Maternal Health Outcomes Committee
The following are projects initiated and supported by the Utah Women and Newborns Quality Collaborative (UWNQC) Improve Maternal Health Outcomes Committee.
Maternal Focus Groups, August 2023
In August 2023, three focus groups were conducted to understand the experiences of and resources needed by Utah moms in the Hispanic/Latina, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander, and Black/African American communities to improve maternal health outcomes. This was a collaboration between Comunidad Materna, Utah Pacific Islander Health Coalition, and Project Success; the DHHS Utah Women and Newborns Quality Collaborative; and the DHHS Office of Health Equity. DHHS epidemiologists from the Office of Maternal and Child Health and the Office of Health Equity are currently working on qualitative data analysis.
These initial three infographic summaries serve as an overview of what was shared in these focus groups and as a way to share back the information with their communities of origin. Each focus group was led by a member of the respective community, and the findings were reviewed by members of each group before publishing. These focus groups were funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as part of a cooperative agreement with the goal of reducing maternal health disparities. See below for full PDFs.
English & Spanish - Hispanic Maternal Focus Group Summary 2023 (PDF)
Black - Maternal Focus Group Summary 2023 (PDF)
NHPI - Maternal Focus Group Summary 2023 (PDF)
Clinician Focus Group, May 2024
Similar to the maternal focus groups conducted in August 2024, 10 staff of Community Health Centers, Inc. from clinicians, front desk staff, executive team members, and all levels of roles within the Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC) participated in a focus group. Questions centered around barriers and potential solutions to improving maternal health outcomes for Community Health Centers, Inc. patients.
UWNQC produced an infographic representation of what was shared in the focus group, and overarching topics. UWNQC partners with Community Health Centers, Inc. on quality improvement work to respond to and aim to improve issues that were discussed in the focus group.
The Maternal Resource Guide
The Improving Maternal Health Outcomes Committee has worked on a quality improvement project to develop a maternal resource guide. The guide provides info and over 900+ resources statewide on key social drivers of health, such as housing and food resources. This guide is in both English and Spanish.
Thank you to the committee and to Dr. Frank Powers for his leadership on this project.
