The Practical Playbook III: Working Together to Improve Maternal Health

This is an open access title available under the terms of a CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 International license. It is free to read at Oxford Academic and offered as a free PDF download from OUP and selected open access locations.

Since publishing The Practical Playbook II, there has been growing recognition of increased maternal deaths and poor maternal health outcomes disproportionately impacting Black, Indigenous, People of Color in the United States. Practitioners are often unaware or unequipped to understand the inequities faced by historically marginalized populations in maternal health care.

The Practical Playbook III is a guide for researchers, community activists, and advocates of maternal health offering practical tools and strategies to improve inequities in maternal health. This third edition aims to describe the need and opportunities for improving maternal health through multi-sector collaborations. It highlights examples of effective cross-sector partnerships that are making real improvements in health outcomes for maternal health populations and offers practical tools and strategies for practitioners working in this space. Other features include:

· Examples of multidisciplinary partnerships that leverage new ideas and resources, including innovative approaches to gathering and using data
· Policies and practices that are improving the health and well-being of birthing people and children across the country
· Strategies for scaling up and sustaining successful coalitions and programs
· Existing or promising tools and strategies to improve maternal health in the future

The Practical Playbook III brings together voices of experience and authority to answer the most challenging questions in maternal health and provide concrete steps for maternal stakeholders to improve maternal health outcomes.

Dorothy Cilenti is a Clinical Professor in the Department of Maternal and Child Health at the UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health.

Alisahah Jackson is CEO of Why Health Matters.

Natalie D. Hernandez is an Associate Professor in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Morehouse School of Medicine.

Lindsey Yates is a Postdoctoral Trainee in the Center of Excellence in the Department of Maternal and Child Health at the UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health.

Sarah Verbiest is a Clinical Professor at the UNC School of Social Work.

J. Lloyd Michener is Professor Emeritus of Community and Family Medicine at the Duke University School of Medicine.

Brian C. Castrucci is CEO of the de Beaumont Foundation.