RTI International will serve as centralized collaboration partner for new maternal and infant health initiative

Evidence-based recommendations will aim to improve health outcomes and reduce disparities through ‘Nurture North Carolina’

RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, N.C. — The nonprofit research institute RTI International will serve as the centralized collaboration partner for a new statewide multisector initiative: Nurture North Carolina. The initiative aims to improve maternal and infant health outcomes and reduce disparities through targeted policy reform. Evidence-based recommendations and multisector collaboration will be key to success.

“RTI is proud to be collaborating with a wide range of partners in this important effort,” said RTI President and CEO Tim J. Gabel. “Improving health outcomes and reducing disparities for mothers and infants, in our local community and around the world, is core to our mission.”

Funded by The HopeStar Foundation, in partnership with the North Carolina Maternal Health Funders Collaborative, Nurture NC unites senior leadership from government, health care delivery systems, professional associations, insurance payers, academia, philanthropy, and private business to address the systemic issues that drive poor health outcomes and contribute to widening racial, ethnic and geographic inequities. 

Nurture NC will take evidence-based recommendations and turn them into actionable policy reform. To do this, RTI will oversee a multisector steering committee, facilitate an interorganizational partnership model, develop an action plan for reforms and implement an educational campaign for key collaborators and state leaders. 

“It’s an honor to lend our evidence-based approach to this project,” said Regina Rutledge, Ph.D., senior researcher at RTI and project director, Nurture NC. “It's an exciting time to be working in this space as we're seeing increased investments and innovations designed to address root causes of poor health outcomes and disparities.” 

During the first two years of the initiative, efforts will focus on supporting policy reform in three primary areas:

• Increasing access to maternal health services in rural communities
• Expanding and diversifying the maternal health workforce
• Enhancing access to perinatal mental and behavioral health services 

RTI is also providing $150,000 USD in in-kind support for the project. 

Learn more about RTI’s work on maternal health in the U.S.