Case Studies

NICHQ worked with Kansas, Massachusetts, Mississippi, and Oklahoma to identify policies, structures, and other contextual factors that may have impacted preterm birth rates in each state. Each of the four selected states participated in the 2013-2017 phase of the Collaborative Improvement and Innovation Network to Reduce Infant Mortality (IM CoIIN) and elected to address preterm births as one of their priority areas.

Between 2013 and 2017, the Health Resources and Services Administration Maternal and Child Health Bureau (HRSA MCHB) engaged NICHQ in what became a nationwide effort to reduce infant mortality rates in the U.S. Had these rates remained unchanged, over 23,000 babies would continue to die annually.