The United Health Foundation, the philanthropic foundation of UnitedHealth Group, announced more than $7 million in new grant partnerships to increase access to maternal and infant health care, address gaps in care for women and children, and to grow and support the doula workforce in Georgia, Michigan, New Mexico and Wisconsin.
Why it matters: The partnerships are an example of UnitedHealth Group’s mission in action to help people live healthier lives and to help make the health system work better for everyone by delivering maternal and infant health care services to improve health outcomes.
By the numbers
The need to improve maternal and infant health and grow the doula workforce was brought to light by data in America’s Health Rankings Maternal and Infant Health Disparities Data Brief and America’s Health Rankings 2024 Health of Women and Children Report.
- 34% Maternal mortality increased 34% between 2014-2018 and 2018-2022.
- 5.5 Nationally, infant mortality remains persistently high at 5.5 deaths per 1,000 births, with significant differences across population groups.
“Ensuring the health of women and children is crucial for building strong communities nationwide. America’s Health Rankings revealed gaps in care that affect the very core of our families, highlighting a critical need in the health system. Our commitment to improving health outcomes is essential to our mission of helping people live healthier lives and helping make the health system work better for everyone.”
Dr. Lisa S. | national medical director of maternal child health, UnitedHealthcare
The big picture
The United Health Foundation is providing more than $6 million in new grant partnerships focused on improving maternal and infant health care experiences and outcomes in Georgia, Michigan, New Mexico and Wisconsin.
The grants include:
$2 million to South Georgia Healthy Start, housed at Mercer University School of Medicine (Macon, Georgia), to build on the program’s success of reducing the infant mortality rate by expanding prenatal and postpartum services, doubling the number of health promotion activities and supporting the provision of essential baby and maternal outcomes.
“This grant will allow us to fortify our current workforce with a skilled team of doulas, while strategically tracking the response in maternal functioning and mental health over the project's life course. We view this as an incredible opportunity to build on our recent success in positively impacting community health outcomes by providing additional mothers, fathers and infants with enriched services.” - Dr. Jennifer Barkin | director, South Georgia Healthy Start and Project Elevate
$1.2 million to Birth Detroit (Detroit, Michigan) to help launch the city’s first freestanding birth center, which aims to address structural barriers of health for families by enabling improved prenatal, postpartum and pediatric care.
“Everyone deserves access to a birth experience that is safe, sacred, loving and celebrated. Our partnership means more parents and babies in Detroit will have access to relationship-based care, helping improve maternal-infant health outcomes in the short term and contributing to a lasting reduction in maternal-infant health disparities in the long term.” - Afton Shavers | chief administrative officer, Birth Detroit
$1.5 million to Meta House (Milwaukee, Wisconsin) to increase specialized health care services care for pregnant, postpartum and parenting women (PPW) experiencing substance use disorder.
“In Milwaukee County, the need for comprehensive care is great, yet a lack of available resources often prevents women from accessing the critical care they need to find recovery and welcome healthy babies. This partnership will allow us to improve access to treatment for pregnant, postpartum and parenting women – and provide the integrated, comprehensive care they need to thrive.” - Valerie Vidal | Meta House president & CEO
$1.5 million to La Clinica de Familia (Las Cruces, New Mexico) to expand prenatal and gynecologic services to more health centers in southern New Mexico.
“Accessible, high-quality prenatal and gynecologic services are critical to ensuring healthy pregnancies and strong families. Through this grant partnership, La Clinica de Familia will be able to provide these services in rural areas where patients would otherwise drive up to 45 minutes to the nearest clinic.” - Dr. Stephanie Peace | director of Women’s Health Center, La Clinica de Familia
The United Health Foundation is also committing $1 million to five nonprofits focused on growing and nurturing the doula workforce.
$500K
HealthConnect One (National)
$200K
Just Birth Space (National)
$150K
Atlanta Doula Collective (Ga.)
$100K
New Mexico Doula Association (N.M.)
$100K
African American Breastfeeding Network (Wis.)
Doulas help make sure that expectant parents have access to trusted information. They also help parents understand their options to support a healthy pregnancy. Doulas have connections within the community to help guide parents to services, health care providers and support groups. This may help parents, and their baby have better physical and mental health before, during and after birth.
To learn more about how we’re partnering with national and local organizations to address gaps in care to help build healthier communities, click here.
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