Throughout the Commissioner’s Cup Competition, the Washington Mystics will help support MedStar Health D.C. Safe Babies and Safe Moms Initiative.
Made possible by the A. James & Alice B. Clark Foundation, D.C. Safe Babies Safe Moms is a partnership between MedStar Health, Community of Hope, and Mamatoto Village that is designed to improve the health, welfare, and lifelong outcomes of mothers and infants in Washington, D.C.
Putting each family at the center of their care before, during, and after pregnancy and until the child reaches age three, our approach combines the expertise of MedStar Health, evidence-based healthcare, and proven community-centric support services with the goal of reducing maternal and infant health disparities.
We bring together partners from MedStar Health and the community to provide an interdisciplinary, multigenerational framework that addresses individual, family, social, and community factors that influence the health of birthing individuals and their babies, applied from preconception through delivery, postpartum, and early childhood. Our approach seeks to address risk factors through a health equity lens, including implicit bias training and interventions for integrated health teams to overcome racial bias and toxic stress, social support integrated within the clinical setting, and culturally competent patient peer navigators with lived experience to engage and retain women in the continuum of care..
Program Goals
The goal of D.C. Safe Babies Safe Moms is to reduce maternal and infant mortality in Washington, DC by 25% in the next five years.
- D.C. Safe Babies Safe Moms brings together evidence-based healthcare and proven community-based support to address disparities in maternal and infant care in Washington, D.C.
- MedStar Health currently supports the majority of the District’s most vulnerable families, serving approximately 3,600 birthing individuals per year, which uniquely positions the health system to truly move the needle on maternal and infant health, alongside critically-important partners Community of Hope and Mamatoto Village who provide trusted spaces and services embedded within the community we serve.
- Putting each patient and their family at the center of their care before, during, and after pregnancy and until the child reaches age three, our approach combines the specialty services of obstetrics, midwifery, family medicine, pediatrics, and behavioral health to provide access to high-quality, evidence-based healthcare with proven community-centric support.
- To provide comprehensive care and support specific to each patient and their family, we start by asking them about their lives, their housing, their relationships, their lifestyle, and more. This helps build trust and allows us to better understand what other support, beyond traditional medical care, could help our patients thrive from before conception, throughout pregnancy, delivery, and postpartum, all the way through the critically-important early childhood years.
Key Services Provided
D.C. Safe Babies Safe Moms is committed to improving the health and well-being of mothers and infants in Washington, D.C.
We care for patients from pre-conception, pregnancy, labor and delivery, postpartum care, and newborn care until the child is age three. Our providers offer integrated, comprehensive care, including prenatal and postpartum obstetrical care, breastfeeding education and support, diabetes control, nutritional counseling, mental health services, and other health screenings.
D.C. Safe Babies Safe Moms also provides support beyond traditional medical care, including baby supplies, meal kits, work training, direct referrals to other social safety net programs, and access to legal services. MedStar Health has partnered with the Georgetown University Health Justice Alliance for Perinatal Law, one of few medical-legal partnerships focused on perinatal experience. The medical-legal partnership offers patients various supportive services, such as housing, family law, employment, and public food benefits. It also helps patients with tenant rights, and custody and child support needs.
