State of Public Health is a column sponsored by the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials (ASTHO) and appears in each issue of the Journal of Public Health Management and Practice.

Maternal mortality and morbidity rates in the US are some of the worst among high-income countries with significant disparities in Black and American Indian/Alaska Native women who die at a rate nearly 3 to 4 times higher than White women. Most of these deaths are preventable.

State and territorial health agencies and officials are entrusted to support the health and well-being of mothers and children. They have the authority to make structural changes through regulatory means and substantial influence on leaders across their jurisdictions.

In this State of Public Health column, authors Britta Cedergren, Ellen Pliska, and Christi Mackie describe ASTHO’s Maternal Mortality Reduction Technical Package, which provides focused recommendations of how ASTHO can assist state and territorial health officials in promoting the health and well-being of mothers in their jurisdictions.

Learn More

• Read “Supporting Success: ASTHO’s Strategies for Reducing Maternal Mortality and Morbidity” in the May/June 2022 issue of the Journal of Public Health Management and Practice.