National tour stops in Omaha to help parents with resources for healthy births

It’s also a time when parents may need some extra help.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services brought its M.O.M.S. (Maternal Outcomes Matter Showers) to Omaha on Sunday to help connect parents with resources available in the community, such as local birthing centers, doulas services and Nebraska Medicaid insurers.

The aim of the national tour, in its second year, is to improve maternal health outcomes, particularly among Black and American Indian and Alaska Native women in communities with high rates of maternal morbidity and mortality.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 817 women died of maternal causes in the United States in 2022. Black women are three times more likely to die of pregnancy related causes than their White counterparts and Native women are twice as likely to die from such causes as White women. More than 80% of these deaths were preventable.

The community baby showers are held in cities with high maternal mortality rates, based on federal and March of Dimes data, said LaKeisha Entsuah of Cocolife.black, a doula training partner participating in the initiative.

Nebraska’s maternal mortality rate of 26.2 per 100,000 live births is above the national average of 23.5, according to the March of Dimes’ 2023 report card for the state. The rate is based on deaths from complications of pregnancy or childbirth that occur during the pregnancy or within 6 weeks after the pregnancy ends.

The showers bring together “anything that would support a safe and healthy birth and put them in one room,” Entsuah said. A surprising number of people, for instance, don’t know that Medicaid covers their care during pregnancy.

Since Jan. 1, Nebraska Medicaid has provided 12 months of continuous postpartum coverage for mothers who received Medicaid while they were pregnant.

Entsuah said extended coverage is important given that some conditions related to childbirth don’t manifest right away. If mothers don’t have coverage, they likely won’t go to a doctor, which can result in postpartum losses.

About 160 people registered for the event at Greater Saint Paul Worship Center off Parkview Drive and Fort Streets, which was the 10th of the year, said Chris Davis, CEO of Dad’s Forward, a tour partner focused on fathers’ well-being. The tour stopped in 25 cities last year.

But the number of attendees was at least double that, with other family members included. Tour stops have been averaging between 200 and 500 attendees, he said.

Davis said his organization teaches fathers how to advocate for mothers and provides practical knowledge, such as how to burp a baby and change a diaper, about which they may be reluctant. He pulled fathers at the event into to a Dad’s Den, a separate meeting just for fathers.

“Dads are probably the forgotten player in the pregnancy experience,” he said.

The event also featured a short panel presentation that included Shanika King, co-founder of A Mother’s Love, one of a growing number of doula organizations operated by Black women in Omaha, and Doris Moore, a behavioral health professional and founder and CEO of the Center for Holistic Development in Omaha.

Moore noted that there are several behavioral health conditions associated with pregnancy, including postpartum depression. Those who believe they may be suffering can go to her website for a confidential assessment. The free, confidential National Maternal Mental Health Hotline is available 24/7 at 1-800-TLC-MAMA as is the 988 national suicide and crisis hotline.

“It’s a lot of stuff I didn’t know about,” said Brittany Barnes, who has a 5-month-old at home.

She attended the event with her niece, Trillionaire Baker, who was collecting supplies for her four-month old son, Trill’eon.

“I love it,” she said of being a mom. “It’s exciting. It’s something new every day.”

Correction: New mother Brittany Barnes’ last name was incorrect in an earlier version of this report. It has been corrected.