Wendy McWeeny and Raquel Mazon Jeffers were delighted to return to Princeton’s School of Public and International Affairs this year as part of the teaching team for the school’s Policy and Advocacy Clinic. This is the third year the CHAP Co-Directors have helped bring policymaking to life as part of the university’s SPIA in New Jersey faculty.

This report documents meaningful progress towards birth equity made by funders and partners in nine states and what we’ve learned in the process about the value of collaboration.

A mutual aid fund for birth workers in Ohio will launch this fall. CHAP is proud to support this new endeavor, led by Cradle Cincinnati. As our partner Josselyn Taylor, Community Engagement Strategist, puts it: “We can’t keep asking women to sacrifice themselves for the good of the community with little support. If we want them to continue to be able to do that, they need support as well.”

We are thrilled to feature Ausannette García-Goyette, Senior Program Officer at the Irving Harris Foundation and a key leader in Illinois’ State Exchange for Maternal Health initiatives, in our latest Partner Spotlight.

This new report from the State Exchange team distills field-led insights, innovations, and practices shaping maternal health impact across 47 states and D.C.

This new brief looks at how insurance shapes patient experience with recommendations for ensuring New Jerseyans receive quality care across their perinatal journeys.

Funders from nearly all 50 states met in Washington, DC, to advance state-level efforts to improve birth outcomes during the 2024 State of Birth Equity (SOBE) State Exchange Convening.

Our latest Partner Spotlight features Cecile Edwards, Executive Director of the New Jersey Birth Equity Funders Alliance (NJBEFA). Co-founded by CHAP in 2021, NJBEFA focuses on amplifying the voices of birth equity leaders, investing in community-based organizations, and building the infrastructure for cross-sector partnerships.

On Thursday, September 19th, CHAP Program Manager Jhenielle Reynolds joined a group of birth equity advocates to testify before the New Jersey Assembly Aging and Human Services Committee regarding the inequities faced by individuals who choose to give birth outside hospital settings.

CHAP’s partnership with the Alma program began in 2022. Alma, which recently expanded to New Jersey, uses a peer-to-peer approach to maternal mental health, uplifting the lived experiences of birthing people and parents of color.

CHAP is pleased to be part of the planning committee for the inaugural Birth Equity State Exchange Convening. The convening is a funder-only event dedicated to advancing birth outcomes at the state-level and will be held from October 27-29 in Washington, DC.

CHAP is introducing students at Princeton’s School of Public and International Affairs to the maternal mortality crisis in New Jersey. In addition to studying the conditions surrounding the state’s historically poor maternal health outcomes, students are exploring the policy and practice of the birth equity movement.

CHAP Co-Directors Raquel Mazon Jeffers and Wendy McWeeny hosted a conversation on improving maternal and child health outcomes through partnership during the Association of Maternal & Child Health Programs (AMCHP) annual conference.

Postpartum Medicaid Implementation details the current state of postpartum Medicaid extensions, the brief focuses on recommendations for how funders can support the success and implementation of the 12-month postpartum Medicaid benefit.

As founding members of the Maternal Mental Health Equity Fund, CHAP is honored to announce the recipients of a new grant designed to fund models of maternal mental health care built in and by Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) communities.