I recently returned from the Association of Maternal Child Health Programs conference in Washington, D.C., feeling energized from sharing our pioneering work with maternal and child health leaders from across the country.

I presented alongside Adelisa Perez Hudgins, Vice President of Quality at the Quality Institute, and Uzo Achebe, Safer Childbirth Cities Supervisor and Certified Doula, of the Children’s Home Society. Together, we shared insights from our development of Perinatal Community Advisory Boards (PCABs) and highlighted the progress and value of this unique innovation.

You can learn more about PCABs by joining us on April 21, 12 – 2 p.m., when we host “Shifting Power: Centering Community Voices in Maternal Health Reform.” This learning session will focus on PCAB development and best practices as well as a panel discussion featuring PCAB members from the first two hospitals we worked with, Capital Health and Penn Medicine Princeton Health.

PCABs are a key element of our Raising the Bar for Maternal Health Equity and Excellence in NJ initiative. Each PCAB includes people who have given birth at the hospital, local leaders, social service providers, and community health workers, alongside hospital leadership.

PCABs build trust, elevate lived experience, and, critically important in my mind, serve as active decision-making partners — shaping program design, guiding hospital resource allocation, and informing priorities. In the time we’ve worked with PCABs we’ve seen their recommendations directly influence hospital policies, services, and community-based supports — creating meaningful, sustainable change in perinatal care.

We are now scaling our PCAB initiative to South Jersey, expanding the model to Inspira Medical Center Vineland, Inspira Medical Center Mullica Hill, and AtlantiCare Regional Medical Center – Mainland.

We’ve seen how PCABs can play an important role in building stronger connections between health systems and communities, ensuring that lived experiences and community voices help shape solutions that improve care for all. We look forward to every birthing hospital having a PCAB.

At the conference in Washington, DC, the theme was The Power of Connection. We regularly see that power in Raising the Bar — an initiative that recognizes the historical harms of racism, bias, and exclusion in perinatal care. The work recognizes that trust must be built through consistent transparency, shared learning, and accountability. In our work with PCABs, we have seen how discussions often elevate barriers such as implicit bias, transportation access, health literacy, and socioeconomic determinants that influence perinatal outcomes. We look forward to discussing these issues with you at our learning session on April 21.