The UW School of Medicine and Public Health has awarded four grants to help health systems and community partners in the state improve the health outcomes of mothers and their infants during the prenatal and postpartum periods, according to a recent press release.
The school was awarded funds to launch the grant program from the Wisconsin Department of Health Services as part of the American Rescue Plan Act, a law passed in March 2021 to help lessen the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. An open request for proposals was announced by the school in April of this year. Four nonprofit health organizations in Wisconsin ultimately received funding.
Gunderson Lutheran Medical Foundation in La Crosse, and Meta House, Milwaukee Health Department, and Froedtert Hospital, all in Milwaukee, each received up to $1.15 million for their proposals to improve maternal and child health in Wisconsin. To qualify for funding, each proposal required collaboration with at least one community partner.
Programs funded by the grants will reach people in every one of Wisconsin’s 72 counties.
The funds are designated to reduce inequities in health outcomes for mothers and their infants, a population that was impacted severely by the COVID-19 pandemic. Wisconsin has one of the worst infant mortality rates for Black infants in the nation, and Black maternal deaths and pregnancy complications have been increasing. American Indian, Asian, Latinx, multiracial, socioeconomically disadvantaged, rural, and other underserved communities also face disproportionate infant and maternal mortality rates.
The grants aim to strengthen relationships between health systems, community clinics, federally qualified health centers, and community partners.
