Maternal Health Innovation Grant Advisory Board Awards $1.3M

Six additional awards have been made under the Jewish Healthcare Foundation's (JHF) maternal care innovation grant opportunity, bringing the total number of awards for the first round of funding to 10. A total of $1,324,353 has been committed for this first round of funding out of a total $4.5 million funding stream for short-term, maternal care innovation projects that will positively impact maternal health in Pennsylvania.

JHF is operating as the fiscal agent for federal Coronavirus State Fiscal Recovery Funds provided through the Pennsylvania Department of Human Services to address maternal health needs. The six recently awarded grants were submitted over the summer and recommendations were made by an external review committee in late August.

New awardees and programs include:

• MAYA Organization: Assessment of current operations to offer equitable programming to better serve BIPOC and marginalized birthing people and birth workers, and to create a replicable model that other birth care organizations can use to provide racially equitable services.
• Maternal and Family Health Services: Implementation of a maternal-child medical home model in Lackawanna County to reduce barriers to care access through the provision of comprehensive blood glucose assessments, including evaluation and implementation of medical management programs with home blood glucose self-monitoring for prenatal and postpartum clients who present with gestational diabetes and type I or type 2 diabetes.
• UPMC Magee Women's Hospital: Provision of maternal health educational opportunities and screenings directly within low-income housing developments in Allegheny County to women who are pregnant or have recently had a child, and providing mentors to pregnant people in the program who will provide support and resources throughout pregnancy and postpartum.
• Maternity Care Coalition: Creation of a Family Support Fund to benefit pregnant people and new families in Southeastern Pennsylvania.
  
• National Council of Jewish Women Pittsburgh: Expansion of services under existing MomsWork program through the hiring of additional providers as well as increasing staff oversight to support the expanded support group, from childcare providers to additional therapists. NCJW will also secure a larger space to accommodate more participants and purchase additional materials for psychological safety, intimacy, and comfort.
  
• The Wright Center for Community Health: Implementation of two programs as part of their Healthy MOMS program: Angel Eyes Camera NICU System to support parents with Opioid Use Disorder/Substance Use Disorders and expanding access to doula care and doula education and training.
  

Maternal care innovation grant awards are reviewed and allocated by the Maternal Health Innovation Grant Advisory Board, a group of 18 experts and practitioners across Pennsylvania working in maternal health, social work, policy, midwifery, public health, minority health, and grantmaking.

The committee convened on October 25 to discuss the next round of proposals. Thirteen proposals have been reviewed by the committee for this round, totaling $1.8 million in requests. JHF expects to hold at least one more round of funding for proposals received between September and October 2023. Read about previously funded projects here.