Maternal care reached a crisis point in recent months. The closing of three labor and delivery departments in Shelby and Monroe counties have left expecting mothers with fewer healthcare options. Alabama also has the highest rate of mothers dying from pregnancy-related issues in the United States.

To tackle these growing problems for mothers-to-be, the University of Alabama at Birmingham’s School of Nursing is expanding their nurse-family partnership program using an $8.8 million grant from the Health Resources and Services Administration.

According to the partnership’s director, Dr. Candace Knight, the nurse-family partnership is a blend of nursing and social work. Expecting families “experiencing barriers related to social or economic issues” partner with a nurse and meet twice a month for 2.5 years and “become a member of the family.”

“They go out into the homes and they take vital signs, they weigh mom,” Knight said. “After baby is born, they weigh baby. They do a lot of those nursing assessments, but they do so much more.” Suppose there’s a need for more education, transportation, or behavioral health care. In that case, the nurse provides resources to the family to obtain that additional support.

“We work with a lot of other community agencies to make sure that the families that are enrolled and engaged in our program have all their needs met and they’re really able to work towards meeting all of their goals,” Knight said. She said moms and babies tend to have better health outcomes with this kind of nursing support.

The partnership’s goal is to expand from eight to 27 Alabama counties. The grant will fund approximately 40 more nurses over the next five years, increase the number of midwifery students at UAB, and place a midwife in a maternal care facility.

“We know that nurse midwifery is a great way for a lot of women to access maternity care, especially those with normal pregnancies, healthy pregnancies,” Knight said. “It’s just a really great model of care and, in our state, it’s not been the norm.”