Every week, the headlines deliver another gut-punch to American health care: rural hospitals shutting down labor and delivery units, midwifery practices forced to close their doors, rising maternal mortality rates, and a rapidly shrinking women’s health workforce. Amidst a worsening crisis and skyrocketing care costs, a single question haunts every parent, practitioner, and advocate: How can we do better?
The answer starts with a fundamental shift in perspective. Years ago, while teaching a doctoral epidemiology course, I immersed myself in the work of Dr. Hans Rosling—the visionary Swedish physician who transformed global health data into breathtaking, hopeful visual narratives. Rosling proved that when statistics meet human-centered leadership, predictive action becomes unstoppable. His foundational belief remains profoundly true today: we can build a better world if we care enough to work toward it.
That belief is no longer just an ideal—it is turning into action.
A seismic shift in American maternity care is officially underway. The Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) and the Olivia Walton Foundation recently announced that Dr. Neel Shah—renowned obstetrician/gynecologist and former CMO of Maven—has stepped up as President of Healthy Mothers Healthy Babies.
This isn’t about politics, policy debate, or finger-pointing. It is a unified, relentless charge to mobilize business leaders, healthcare providers, faith leaders, and everyday advocates around one non-negotiable objective: to cut U.S. maternal deaths in half in five years, making America the safest place in the world to give birth.
Dr. Shah is a persistent, compassionate leader who puts patients first. Working alongside him on the Heartland Forward Maternal Health Advisory Board, the momentum is tangible—and the movement is open to everyone.
We cannot afford to sit on the sidelines while mothers and babies pay the price for a broken system. Real change requires collective action.
Take your seat at the table. Sign up today, get involved, and join the MOMTOURAGE at hmhba.org/#join. The ride to transform U.S. maternal health starts now.