Maternal And Infant Health Episodes

Senior Analyst for Maternal and Infant Health at ASTHO Lexa Giragosian highlights ASTHO's latest research on implementing Levels of Maternal Care across the country, and how ASTHO has collaborated with 13 states to better maternal care.

In this bonus, long-form episode, Daniel Edney, ASTHO president-elect and state health officer for the Mississippi State Department of Health, explains how Mississippi is using Rural Health Transformation Program grant funding to strengthen maternal health systems, Then, Ramya Flores, director of Maternal and Infant Health at ASTHO, puts Mississippi's work into a national context, highlighting how states are adopting levels of maternal care to improve access to risk-appropriate services.

On today's episode, Denise Hanisch from the South Dakota Department of Health shares the state's maternal and infant health priorities, and ASTHO's Sanaa Akbarali highlights takeaways from the Region 7 Maternal Health ECHO Summit.

In this episode, ASTHO Senior Analyst for Government Affairs, Catherine Murphy, unpacks the ripple effects of ongoing changes at the Department of Health and Human Services and CDC. Later, ASTHO Chief Medical Officer, Susan Kansagra, zooms out to the state level, where leaders are racing to deploy Rural Health Transformation Program funds.

On today's episode, Senior Advisor for Public Health at MaineHealth, former state health official, and ASTHO Alumni Society Representative, Dora Anne Mills, tells us about the rapidly escalating rural maternity crisis, beyond just hospital closures.

On today's episode, ASTHO member and State Health Officer Daniel Edney explains what’s driving the infant mortality crisis and what it will take to improve infant outcomes, including the roles of maternal health, obesity, and preterm births.

If the United States brought home a report card on maternal and infant health, it would need a serious parent–teacher conference. In this episode, Dr. Michael Warren, chief medical and health officer at March of Dimes, breaks down their 2025 Report Card on birth outcomes, and the headline is hard to ignore: the nation earns a D+ for preterm birth, with half of states receiving a D or F. But this isn’t just about grades. It’s about what’s driving poor outcomes and what public health leaders can actually do about it. Warren, a former state and federal public health leader, also shares how officials can use the report card as more than a headline, but as a tool to build urgency, strengthen partnerships across maternal health, chronic disease, and Medicaid, and push forward policy and funding priorities.

Two very different challenges, and one shared public health reality: systems have to work when it matters most. In this episode, we speak with Dr. Erica Pan, director and state public health officer for the California Department of Public Health, and ASTHO member, about a rare and unprecedented infant botulism outbreak linked to contaminated infant formula. She explains how California’s unique BabyBIG® treatment program, home to the only infant botulism treatment in the world, helped detect a national pattern, how states coordinated with CDC and FDA, and the logistical strain of managing treatment supply, clinician hotlines, and public communication during a fast-moving emergency. Then, Alex Wheatley, senior director of island support at ASTHO, joins us to discuss a different kind of pressure point: helping U.S. Island jurisdictions navigate complex federal grant systems. She outlines a new resource designed to bridge gaps between federal funders and local health agencies, reduce misu…

In this episode, Pennsylvania Secretary of Health and ASTHO member Dr. Debra Bogen joins us to break down a major change in national vaccine guidance, and why it has sparked concern among pediatric and public health leaders.

In this episode, ASTHO member and Michigan Department of Health & Human Services Chief Medical Executive Dr. Natasha Bagdasarian breaks down a major development in national vaccine policy: the CDC Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices' (ACIP’s) decision to narrow its guidance on the hepatitis B vaccine for newborns.

Kentucky is experiencing its largest spike in whooping cough cases since 2012, an alarming rise that has already claimed the lives of three infants in the past year. In this episode, Dr. Steven Stack, secretary of Kentucky’s Cabinet for Health and Family Services, joins us to unpack what’s driving the surge, why waning vaccination rates matter, and how misinformation is complicating public health response efforts.

On this Public Health Thank You Day, ASTHO’s Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Susan Kansagra, joins us to share encouraging news from the front lines of public health. Thanks to increased partnerships with birthing hospitals and the rollout of monoclonal antibodies for infants and the maternal RSV vaccine, infant RSV hospitalizations dropped nearly 30–40% last season, one of the most significant improvements in years. Dr. Kansagra also discusses a major decline in overdose deaths, driven by expanded community partnerships, naloxone distribution, peer support specialists, and innovative response programs...

In today's installment of the PHIG Impact Report, Jade Ramsdell, performance improvement director with the Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE), shares how KDHE is using the Public Health Infrastructure Grant (PHIG)...

Alfarena McGinty, Marion County coroner in Indianapolis, Indiana, explains how her department’s investment in Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources (FHIR) has improved the efficiency and interoperability of timely mortality data; Amanda Jones, data modernization director at the Vermont Department of Health, discusses why her department created a Data Modernization Advisory Committee to promote cultural change and foster excitement around new technologies; ASTHO is now accepting applications...

Francesca Provenzano, public health section chief of the Office of Public Health Preparedness and Response with the Connecticut Department of Public Health, discusses themes and insights from her term as chair of ASTHO’s Director of Public Health Preparedness Peer Network; Dr. Sara Collins, senior scholar for expanding coverage and access and tracking health system performance at The Commonwealth Fund, walks through some of the trends...

Rachel Lehman, acting director of the Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response (ASPR)’s Technical Resources Assistance Center and Information Exchange (TRACIE), celebrates 10 years of the Center’s existence and discusses how it provides states and territories with timely information and technical assistance; Peter Orton, director of media design at the Institute for Vaccine Safety at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, explains...

Dr. Daniel Edney, state health officer for the Mississippi State Department of Health and ASTHO member, shares how his state declared infant mortality a public health emergency to offer services across the state more rapidly; Bonny Mayes, epidemiologist with the Texas Department of State Health Services, discusses the article she co-authored...

Dr. Lindsay Weaver, ASTHO member and state health commissioner of Indiana, discusses the public health programs that Indiana employed to achieve its lowest infant mortality rate in more than a century; Corinne Gillenwater, chronic disease and health improvement analyst at ASTHO...

Dr. Lindsay Weaver, ASTHO member and the state health commissioner for the Indiana Department of Health, discusses how her state is using the Public Health Infrastructure Grant in today's PHIG Impact Report.

Dawn Shanafelt, director of the division of maternal and infant health for the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services, shares the policies and program that helped the state record its lowest infant mortality rate on record; Dulce Mendoza, senior analyst of island support at ASTHO, explains...

Dr. Joseph Kanter, ASTHO CEO, Dr. Scott Harris, ASTHO president, Dr. Susan Kansagra, ASTHO chief medical officer, Dr. Lindsay Weaver of Indiana, Dr. James McDonald of New York, and Dr. Ralph Alvarado of Tennessee, held a deskside briefing on the Impact of Nutrition on Chronic Disease Prevention; Catherine Jones, senior analyst of government affairs at ASTHO, shares...

Beth Giambrone, senior analyst for state health policy at ASTHO, discusses her role on the state health policy team in this installment of the Get to Know ASTHO segment; Dr. Rose Molina, associate professor of obstetrics, gynecology, and reproductive biology at Harvard Medical School...

In the latest PHIG Impact Report, Dr. James McDonald, commissioner of the New York State Department of Health, explains how the Public Health Infrastructure Grant strengthens the state’s public health workforce.

Dr. Susan Kansagra, ASTHO chief medical officer, offers details on the Make America Healthy Again report; Lexa Giragosian, ASTHO senior analyst for maternal and infant health, tells us about an ASTHO brief that zeroes in on adolescent health...