Rutgers has been tapped to help lead New Jersey’s new $75 million maternal and infant health center

Rutgers University has been tapped to help lead a new hub for maternal and infant health services and research in Trenton.

The Maternal and Infant Health Innovation Center was created to improve access to health care and social services during pregnancy and up to a year after birth. The center is also tasked with leading New Jersey’s research into how to address race disparities that leave Black people almost seven times more likely than white people to die of a maternity-related complication.

The $75 million New Jersey Economic Development Authority initiative is part of First Lady Tammy Murphy’s Nurture NJ, a strategic plan for addressing race disparities in maternal health care. The development authority’s board last week named Rutgers; Capital Health, a Trenton-area health system; and Trenton Health Team, a community health nonprofit, as “anchor tenants” to spearhead operations at the newly created innovation center.

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Rutgers’ School of Nursing will lead research into health disparities and what can be done to make care more equitable. Rutgers will work with other academic institutions to expand training opportunities for midwives, nurses, doulas, lactation professionals, and community health workers.

“This effort to expand and diversify the existing perinatal workforce promises to improve care and outcomes for women and pregnant people in New Jersey,” said Julie Blumenfeld, the director of Rutgers’ nurse-midwifery program and a clinical assistant professor in the nursing school who will lead Rutgers’ efforts at the innovation center.

Other schools Rutgers will work with include Mercer County Community College, Stockton University, The College of New Jersey, and Thomas Edison State University.