Maternal and Child Health

Healthy Mothers, Healthy Children, Healthy Families

Maternal and Child Health is the foundation of a healthy life. We focus our work on making sure all moms, babies, children, and youth are mentally and physically well.

Title V Maternal and Child Health (MCH) Services Block Grant

For over 75 years, this Federal grant has provided states with funding to ensure the health of mothers, women, children, and youth, including children with special health care needs, and their families. Title V MCH Grant:

• Is a partnership with State MCH and Children with Special Health Care Needs (CSHCN) programs, reaching across economic lines to support core public health functions.
• Works to build community capacity to deliver care coordination, home visiting, and nutrition counseling, which complement State Medicaid and CHIP medical assistance programs.
• Supports programs for children with special health needs to facilitate the development of family-centered, community-based, coordinated systems of care.
• Programs provide gap-filling prenatal health services to women and primary and preventive health care to children.

Work supported in Maine

This supports work in many important areas, including focus on:

• Birth Defects
• Maternal, Fetal & Infant Mortality Review
• Newborn Bloodspot Screening
• Newborn Hearing Program
• Children & Youth with Special Health Care Needs
• Critical Congenital Heart Disease
• Cytomegalovirus

The funding also supports work in the program areas of Women's Health, Adolescent and School Health, Public Health Nursing, Injury and Suicide Prevention, Oral Health.

Comprehensive Strength and Needs Assessment

The HRSA Maternal Child Health Block Grant requires states to complete a statewide strength and needs assessment every five years. The Maine CDC began this process during FY19 and is focusing on five populations (Women/Maternal, Perinatal/Infants, Children, Adolescents and Children with Special Health Needs). Workgroups included health care providers, community organizations and families who made recommendations on priorities and performance measures that will guide the work of Maine's MCH Programs for the next five years (2020-2025). Below are a few of the main documents used throughout the process.

1. Presentation on the information gathered about priorities.
2. The current performance measures.
3. Data posters to help guide discussions about where Maine is seeing successes and challenges.

Resources

• Maine's Perinatal Needs Assessment (2023) (PDF)
• 2020-2025 Priorities (PDF)
• Women's Health Data Sheets (PDF)
• Maine Adolescent Health (PDF)
• Maine Adolescent Health Potential Priorities (PDF)
• Maine Child Health (PDF)
• Maine Children's Health Potential Priorities(PDF)
• Maine CSHCN Health (PDF)
• Maine CSHN Potential Priorities CSHN (PDF)
• Maine Infant Health (PDF)
• Maine Perinatal and Infant Health Priority (PDF)
• Maine Women's Health (PDF)
• Priorities Setting Presentation (PDF)

LOCATe Guidance

The Maine DHHS asked all Maine hospitals to complete a U.S. CDC assessment on maternal and neonatal Levels of Care (LOC) using the LOCATe tool. Maine DHHS then met with each hospital to review results and determine the appropriate maternal and newborn LOC. This document includes guidance on services based on the level of care, a map of Maine hospitals, and contact details.

• Maine Perinatal and Neonatal Level of Care 2022 Guidelines (PDF)
• Maine Hospitals Level of Maternity and Newborn Care Map with Contacts (PDF)
• Notice of Maternity and/or Newborn Care Changes Policy Effective (PDF)

Contact

Call: (207) 557-2470 or 1-800-698-3624 
E-mail: maryann.harakall@maine.gov 
TTY: Maine relay 711 
Fax: (207) 287-5355