“The commitment to protect the mothers and babies of New Jersey has not wavered. In the last few months, our nation has seen what New Jersey is capable of when we prioritize the health of the most vulnerable. We may be in the middle of one of the greatest challenges of our time, but we have never been more certain that together we will continue to build a village of support for our mothers and make New Jersey the safest and most equitable place in the nation to deliver a baby.”

—Tammy Murphy and Lisa Asare

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My Commitment

The Nurture NJ Commitment

When the Nurture NJ ecosystem is completely built, the following conditions should exist for every mother:

Women

All mothers will have stress-free access to effective, quality, and respectful preventive, wellness, and reproductive healthcare at all times across their life course
All women will receive the care, support, and services they need commensurate to their need
All women will receive timely, effective, quality, safe, respectful, human-centered prenatal care
All women will receive effective, quality, safe respectful, human-centered ancillary prenatal care services
No woman will receive intervention not indicated by her health condition
All women will receive effective, quality, safe labor, and delivery care
All women will receive effective, quality, safe breastfeeding support
All women will have the option to choose midwifery care

Children

Community

All communities will support a culture of health
All communities will have a voice in and power to design systems and services, policies and rules that affect them
Values-based reimbursement for care and services will be commensurate with the level of population needs
All communities will have breastfeeding support resources and will be breastfeeding-friendly
All workplaces/employers will support women’s right to health and well-being
All employers will support and promote workers’ engagement in civic activity
All workplaces and schools will be breastfeeding-friendly
Communities will have access to multiple opportunities to engage with MCH advocacy
Communities will have ongoing access to accurate MCH knowledge
All families will live in environments free of institutional racism
All families will live in environments free of exploitation, unhealthy or oppressive conditions
All families will live in environments that are protective against any potential adverse childhood experiences
All families will have access to the resources and environments they need to gain health, manage health conditions, or maintain health

Healthcare

All providers and agencies will practice with a high level of equity capacity
Midwifery care will be available and fairly compensated
Doula support will be available to all women who want it
Providers will be held accountable for quality of care, racism, and disrespect
All policies will be developed and implemented from an intersectional and equity frame
The state of New Jersey will rank high on population levels of equity proficiency
Media messages will support and promote a culture of equity and health
All sectors will continue to collaborate and coordinate to achieve collective impact in building healthy communities

Expected Outcomes

All mother/infant dyads residing in high-need areas will thrive in a fully built ecosystem from preconception to the child’s 2nd birthday.
Disparities in maternal and infant outcomes will be eliminated
Maternal mortality will be sustainably reduced by 50 percent over five years.
The leading causes of maternal mortality will be sustainably reduced by 50 percent over five years (cardiomyopathy, hemorrhage, infection/sepsis).
Severe maternal morbidity will be reduced by 25 percent over five years.