California Maternal Quality Care Collaborative (CMQCC)

11/21/2025

Listen in as CMQCC’s Clinical Innovation Advisor Amanda Williams, MD, MPH, FACOG, discusses using low-dose aspirin to prevent and related — a life-saving message from a trusted medical expert.

CMQCC offers free clinical resources for supporting patients at risk: https://bit.ly/LDAinCalifornia5

11/19/2025

Mom Angela Jones survived twice and her child experienced a birth. Now, Angela advocates for other families through CMQCC’s Low-Dose Aspirin Patient Advisory Council.

World Prematurity Month highlights the dangers babies face when born early. One key intervention is low-dose aspirin (LDA), which medical evidence shows can prevent preterm birth related to preeclampsia and help baby and mom both stay healthy.

“Doctors need to tell people about this,” Angela says. Other topics like STIs are commonly discussed during medical visits but preeclampsia and preterm birth risks, and LDA use during pregnancy, are not.

Read more of Angela’s story on NBC News: https://www.nbcnews.com/health/womens-health/aspirin-pregnancy-blood-pressure-more-women-report-rcna242564

Pre-eclampsia, a condition that causes dangerously high blood pressure, is a leading cause of death among mothers and babies.

11/07/2025

🌟 This week, CMQCC and partner March of Dimes published a groundbreaking clinical resource on using low-dose aspirin to prevent and related preterm birth.

What’s just as exciting? CMQCC authors wrote this guide specifically for ALL who care for pregnant women, birthing people, and newborns.

Everyone has a role to play in protecting moms and babies—from inpatient and outpatient clinical teams to doulas, community health professionals, promotoras, and public health clinicians.

Download a free copy of “Low-Dose Aspirin for Preeclampsia Prevention: Implementation Guide for Clinical Teams:” https://bit.ly/LDAGuide

Our thanks to March of Dimes for spotlighting preeclampsia risk, all who collaborated on the Guide, and the inspiring preeclampsia survivors working to protect others.

09/02/2025

📣 September is Sepsis Awareness Month, and CMQCC is releasing our revised toolkit for improving diagnosis and treatment of obstetric sepsis on September 5.

The V2.0 toolkit incorporates expertise from a 65-member task force of physicians, nurses, pharmacists, social workers, patient advocates, and experts in public health and social determinants of health. CMQCC is grateful to our collaborators for their dedication to this critical work.

Register for our toolkit release webinar this Friday: https://bit.ly/SepsisToolkit

Obstetric sepsis is a life-threatening condition that can follow an infection. Also known as “maternal sepsis,” it’s the fifth-leading cause of maternal deaths in California (2019-2021) and is highly preventable.

Use this toolkit to protect lives. Together we must reduce obstetric sepsis deaths in California.

08/19/2025

⏰ 3 DAYS LEFT for community-based organizations, doula hubs, and doula organizations in California to apply for California Maternal Health Task Force (MHTF) grant funding!

If your organization is eligible, NOW is the time to:
- Review the sample application
- Watch the overview webinar
- Submit your application online

California MHTF - a partnership of California Department of Public Health, California Department of Health Care Services, Office of the California Surgeon General, and CMQCC with support from fiscal intermediary MOMS Orange County - will disburse enhancement awards of $25,000-$35,000 to organizations that help provide high-quality, respectful, and trauma-informed care to Medi-Cal birthing communities.

Apply by Friday, August 22, at noon PT: https://bit.ly/cadoulas

Let’s further train and strengthen California’s Medi-Cal doula workforce!

08/14/2025

Join CMQCC on August 25 from 12-1 pm for our last webinar in the series, “Lessons from the Learning Initiative: Promising Engagement Practices - Staff and Leadership Engagement.”

We will explore how hospitals are applying principles in action by engaging staff and leadership to improve disparities in health outcomes and advance health equity and respectful maternity care, both on their units and in their work with their local communities.

Register today! https://bit.ly/46S7kXG

07/31/2025

📣 Announcing a grant opportunity for California’s community-based organizations, doula hubs, and doula organizations!

California Maternal Health Task Force, alongside fiscal intermediary MOMS Orange County, is funding organizations supporting doulas who serve Medi-Cal birthing communities with high-quality, respectful, and trauma-informed care.

✅ Register now for an (optional) award overview webinar on Friday, August 1, at 11:30 am PT: https://bit.ly/cadoulas

Watch this space for updates ahead of the awards’ August 22 deadline. Together, we can further train and strengthen California’s Medi-Cal doula workforce.

07/22/2025

The California Maternal Health Innovation Program—a partnership between California Department of Public Health, California Department of Health Care Services, Office of the California Surgeon General, and CMQCC—is continuing to develop the Strategic Plan and we need your voice to help inform it.

Your perspective can play a role in shaping California’s approach to reducing maternal mortality, morbidity, and improving health outcomes. Read the Strategic Plan Summary and let us know: What matters most to your community?

Submit your feedback by Friday, July 25 at https://bit.ly/4kTvpBe

07/10/2025

We want to hear from you! The California Maternal Health Innovation Program—a partnership of California Department of Public Health, California Department of Health Care Services, Office of the California Surgeon General, and CMQCC—is collecting public feedback on the Strategic Plan Summary through July 25.

Your voice can help shape how California reduces maternal health disparities and improves outcomes for mothers in the state.

Read the Summary and share your feedback with us at https://bit.ly/4kTvpBe

07/02/2025

How do we improve maternal health in California? We want to hear from you!

The California Maternal Innovation Program, a partnership of California Department of Public Health, California Department of Health Care Services, Office of the California Surgeon General, and CMQCC, is excited to share the program’s Strategic Plan Summary!

Read, reflect, and discuss with others in maternal health—then tell us your thoughts. What are the priorities? What do California’s families and communities need the most? How can we be stronger, together?

Tell us your thoughts by July 25: https://bit.ly/4kTvpBe

06/26/2025

This summer, join us for a new webinar series, “Lessons from the Learning Initiative: Promising Engagement Practices.”

We’ll highlight promising practices implemented by California hospitals participating in CMQCC’s Learning Initiative to improve .

Join us on Monday June 30 from 12-1 pm PT for “Doula Partnership and Team Engagement: Building Blocks of Culture Change.” Two California hospital teams will share how they boosted team engagement to reduce low-risk Cesarean rates, and built a doula partnership to support through bi-directional feedback.

Register Now: http://bit.ly/3TK2TWW

06/12/2025

Join us virtually on June 27th, 11:30-1 PM PST, for the launch of the California Maternal Health Task Force! This webinar will share anoverview of the CA MHTF’s Strategic Plan and Subcommittee areas of focus, with opportunities for engagement and feedback. Register now: https://bit.ly/CAMHTF2025