Maternal Health

Spotlight on Success: The Strong Start for Mothers and Newborns Initiative

The Strong Start for Mothers and Newborns Initiative was a federal five-year, multi-site project to test and evaluate enhanced prenatal care interventions for women enrolled in Medicaid or the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) who were at risk for having a preterm birth. One of the first Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation initiatives, it launched in 2012 to test three models of enhanced prenatal care among Medicaid beneficiaries: birth centers, group prenatal care, and maternity care homes. Midwifery-led care in birth centers generated stellar results, whereas results of the other two care models were underwhelming.