School of Nursing faculty contribute to Native maternal health policy briefs

Two School of Nursing professors were among the 55 American Indian, Alaska Native (AI/AN) and Native Hawaiian maternal health experts and organizations that created a landmark set of five reports outlining the current state of Native maternal health, convened by U.S. Senator Ben Ray Luján, a member of the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs. The five reports synthesize national findings on maternal mortality, workforce equity, access to health care services, data sovereignty, and funding inequities.

AI/AN people face pregnancy-related mortality ratios two to three times higher than non-Hispanic White counterparts, and Native Hawaiian mortality remains similarly elevated. The reports underscore that today’s disparities are the result of generations of federal policies, underfunding of the Indian Health Service and Urban Indian Organizations, and ongoing barriers to culturally-based, accessible maternal health care. 

Professor Margaret Moss, PhD, JD, RN, FAAN, FADLN, an enrolled member of the Mandan, Hidatsa, and Arikara Nation with Dakhóta lineage, co-authored Preventing Maternal Mortality and Morbidity among American Indian, Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian People.

Clinical Professor Misty Wilkie, PhD, RN, FAAN, Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa/Métis, co-authored Workforce Equity in Maternal Health: Tribal and Native Community-Led Solutions.

“These reports offer a roadmap that is based on data sovereignty, community-led care, and sustained federal investment and support,” said Luján. “I am proud of the work these experts from across the country have led to identify solutions to the unacceptable and preventable disparities in Native maternal health outcomes.”