Healthy births depend on the alignment of many important factors, including access to high-quality clinical care, equitable policies, a prepared and supported workforce, community-centered practices, and collaboration across sectors. Through the Perinatal Health Equity Collective (PHEC), the North Carolina Institute of Medicine (NCIOM) has worked with partners statewide to strengthen these foundations.
The work of the PHEC action teams builds upon a long lineage of leadership and collaboration across North Carolina. The teams’ priorities were informed by years of collective effort reflected in key reports, including the North Carolina Perinatal Health Strategic Plan and the NCIOM Task Force on Perinatal Systems of Care Report.
Four dedicated action teams—spanning the topics of risk appropriate care, perinatal incarceration, and workforce solutions—brought together state leaders, health care providers, community organizations, families, and people with lived experience to shape solutions that advance maternal health in North Carolina. Each team focused on a distinct priority area while upholding a shared vision: ensuring that every person giving birth in North Carolina has access to safe, respectful, and equitable care.
The Maternal and Neonatal Levels of Care Action Teams supported efforts to enhance North Carolina’s maternal and neonatal levels of care systems. By promoting consistent standards for facility readiness and regionalized care, the team identified strategies to improve outcomes for pregnant and birthing people and their infants. The team’s recommendations seek to align providers, hospitals, and health systems around practices that ensure people receive the right care, at the right place and time.
The Equity in Practice Action Team focused on improving experiences and outcomes for pregnant and postpartum people impacted by perinatal incarceration. The team brought together health care providers, formerly incarcerated parents, and advocacy organizations to identify solutions that promote dignity, family connection, and access to quality care during incarceration and reentry. The team’s work emphasized the importance of reducing barriers to care and upholding the rights and well-being of incarcerated birthing people.
Recognizing the vital role doulas play in improving birth experiences and outcomes, the Doula Access Action Team focused on developing recommendations to support the successful integration of doula services into North Carolina’s Medicaid program. The team’s work went beyond reimbursement rates to address benefit design, scope of services, provider enrollment, and the support structures necessary to sustain a diverse, community-rooted doula workforce. Practicing doulas from across the state played a central role in shaping these recommendations to reflect the realities of both the workforce and the families they serve.
The Maternity Care Deserts Action Team is slated to convene beginning in May 2025. This group will explore innovative solutions to address gaps in maternity care across rural and underserved areas of the state. The team seeks to develop recommendations that emphasize workforce-driven strategies, alternative care models, and interdisciplinary collaboration to expand access and reduce barriers to care for pregnant and birthing people.
While each action team focused on distinct challenges, all embraced a shared approach: center the voices of those most impacted, promote practical solutions, and build cross-sector partnerships. Together, these teams generated policy recommendations, informed systems change, and strengthened the network of organizations and individuals working to improve maternal health in North Carolina.
At NCIOM, we believe that sustainable progress requires both deep expertise and the wisdom of lived experience. We are grateful to all the partners, community leaders, health care providers, and parents who contributed their time, knowledge, and passion to this work.
We look forward to continuing to work alongside our partners to advance these strategies and support their implementation wherever possible. The NC PHEC is always looking to recruit new members to better represent the needs of North Carolina's diverse population. To join or to learn more, please visit the PHEC’s Join the Team page.
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Written by Khristian Curry, MPH, Project Director, NCIOM
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NCIOM task forces and projects bring together stakeholders to identify evidence-based solutions to address health issues in North Carolina. For more information about the NCIOM's current task forces and projects, including the Task Force on Maternal Health, please visit our website.