Safe Babies Safe Moms: Rethinking Equitable Access and Maternity Care

Bright Spots in Healthcare

Angela D. Thomas, DrPH, MPH, MBA, Vice President, Healthcare Delivery Research, MedStar Health Research Institute, joins Eric to discuss D.C. Safe Babies Safe Moms, a community-driven collaborative launched in 2020 to improve the health and well-being of mothers and infants in Washington, D.C., and reduce racial disparities in maternal and infant health outcomes – one of the most urgent challenges facing the District of Columbia.

Combining the expertise of MedStar Health, evidence-based healthcare, and proven community-centric support services, Safe Babies Safe Moms offers services to support birthing individuals before, during, and after pregnancy and until their child reaches age three.

Angela shares success stories from families supported by the initiative and discusses the program's impact. For health systems interested in implementing a similar program, she outlines MedStar Health's steps in building and sustaining the initiative.

She also speaks about the role technology plays in the initiative. Safe Babies and Safe Moms recently launched a Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) Commitment to Action project to use artificial intelligence and machine learning to help reduce disparities in maternal and infant health.

About Safe Babies Safe Moms

Made possible by the A. James & Alice B. Clark Foundation, D.C. Safe Babies Safe Moms is a partnership between MedStar Health, Community of Hope, and Mamatoto Village to address critical maternal and infant care disparities in Washington, D.C., which has among the highest rates of maternal and infant mortality in the nation. In FY22, 15,346 mothers and babies received care through the program.

Services offered include on-site mental health support during prenatal and postpartum visits, assessments for high-risk or complicated pregnancies, social support services for mothers and families who may be experiencing food or housing insecurity, pro-bono legal services, and other counseling on securing public benefits, transportation to and from appointments, infant care supplies, culturally-aware breastfeeding support, and more.

About Angela

Angela is responsible for leading a team of experts to apply rigorous scientific methods to enable next-generation healthcare delivery through quality, safety, innovation, health economics, payment reform, outcomes, health services research, data science, and health equity. She also ensures that these research activities leverage the collective leadership and unique strengths of MedStar Health and Georgetown University.

Her research interests focus on health equity and patient safety. As the Executive Leader of Safe Babies Safe Moms, Angela is responsible for ensuring the development, implementation, and evaluation of an evidence-based program that will reduce disparities in maternal and infant mortality in Washington, DC. In addition, she contributes her research expertise in disparities, health equity, and patient safety to the initiative to uncover the contributing factors leading to disparities in maternal and infant harm.

Connect with us on social media:

Facebook: facebook.com/brightspotshc

Instagram: instagram.com/brightspotshc

LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/shared-purpose-connect

Twitter: twitter.com/BrightSpotsinHC

TikTok: tiktok.com/@brightspotshc