Project Title
Uplifting Birth Equity
Grant Amount
$196,991
Priority Area
Primary Care
Date Awarded
June 2, 2025
Region
Western NY
Status
In Progress
Website
Maternal death and serious complications, particularly among Black women and birthing people, are among the most persistent racial health disparities.
While pregnancy and childbirth can be a time of joy, too many women and birthing people of color lack access to empowering, whole-person care that promotes safe and healthy pregnancies. Nearly three out of four pregnancy-related deaths are preventable. Primary care offers a critical opportunity to address maternal health disparities and coordinate care before, during, and after pregnancy, but primary care is currently underutilized. In 2025, NYHealth issued an inaugural Request for Proposals (RFP), “Primary Care: Advancing Maternal Health Equity Through Primary and Preventive Care,” to support projects that identify racial disparities in maternal health care and outcomes, use primary and preventive care to reduce those disparities, and measure progress to improve racial health equity. NYHealth awarded the Niagara Falls Memorial Medical Center (Niagara Falls Memorial) a grant to participate in this initiative.
Under this grant, Niagara Falls Memorial will create an Uplifting Birth Equity Hub to advance the delivery of primary care services to pregnant and postpartum Black women and other women of color. The Hub will bring together Niagara’s P3 Center, OB-GYN Department, and four primary care sites, alongside the Healthy Moms Healthy Babies coalition and community partners, to expand coordinated care and launch a campaign to connect more than 200 Black women and women of color to primary care. The Hub will provide direct support, enrollment assistance, and, when appropriate, accompaniment to primary care appointments through a doula. To strengthen care coordination, Niagara Falls Memorial will also create information-sharing protocols and conduct joint quality assurance between the Primary Care and OB-GYN departments.