{"id":680,"date":"2025-09-08T21:14:59","date_gmt":"2025-09-08T21:14:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thenicholsonfoundation.org\/blog\/?p=680"},"modified":"2025-09-09T17:23:31","modified_gmt":"2025-09-09T17:23:31","slug":"research-demonstrates-the-positive-impact-of-nurture-nj-on-maternal-health-outcomes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thenicholsonfoundation.org\/blog\/research-demonstrates-the-positive-impact-of-nurture-nj-on-maternal-health-outcomes\/","title":{"rendered":"Research Demonstrates the Positive Impact of Nurture NJ on Maternal Health Outcomes"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The Rutgers School of Public Health has released a series of research briefs describing the positive impact of Nurture NJ, New Jersey\u2019s flagship effort to improve maternal health outcomes. Nurture NJ\u2019s mission is to ensure that all women in the state have access to, and receive, the best possible care before, during, and after pregnancy. The goal: Reduce overall maternal and infant morbidity and mortality \u2013 a significant problem in New Jersey.<\/p>\n<p>Nurture NJ was launched in 2019 as an initiative spearheaded by the Office of First Lady Tammy Murphy. The Nicholson Foundation joined the partnership later that year and was instrumental in supporting the development of the Strategic Plan that guided the initiative\u2019s efforts. When the Foundation closed in 2021, Nurture NJ continued through a partnership among the state, the New Jersey Birth Equity Funders Alliance (a collaborative of four funders), and other groups. The Rutgers briefs demonstrate the critical importance and success of Nurture NJ\u2019s collaborative work:<\/p>\n<ul class=\"list-blog-style\">\n<li><strong>Following the Science: New Jersey\u2019s Policy Approaches to Improving Maternal and Infant Health.<\/strong><br \/>\nBetween Nurture NJ\u2019s launch and January 2025, New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy signed 71 pieces of maternal and infant health legislation into law. The Rutgers evaluation team reviewed these policies and two state assembly resolutions and determined that the majority were supported by strong or emerging scientific evidence. Leveraging the best science and evidence to pursue policies and care can drive improvements in maternal and infant outcomes.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Progress in Reducing the Low-Risk Cesarean Birth Rate in New Jersey: An Examination of Data from 2016\u20132023.<\/strong><br \/>\nReducing the rate of cesarean births has been a longstanding priority. This examination of data from 2016 to 2023 shows that, as a result of Nurture NJ, New Jersey had the largest reduction in cesarean birth rates of any state, with the greatest improvements among Medicaid patients. However, despite the overall improvement, racial disparities in cesarean rates persist.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Progress in Increasing Access to Paid Family Leave in New Jersey, An Evidence-Based Strategy for Improving Maternal and Infant Health.<\/strong><br \/>\nOne of Nurture NJ\u2019s key strategies is expanding paid family leave. In 2019, Governor Murphy signed into law an expansion of paid leave benefits in the state. This brief shows the resulting policy changes led to increased use of family leave benefits by both men and women and that the average duration of leave increased. In addition, access to the benefits was associated with increased breastfeeding initiation and duration, lower risk of postpartum depression, increased attendance at postpartum visits, and lower odds of hospital admissions by mothers and babies.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<hr class=\"red-line\" style=\"margin-top: 50px;\" \/>\n<h2 style=\"color:red;\">LEARN MORE<\/h2>\n<p><strong><a style=\"text-decoration: none;\" href=\"https:\/\/thenicholsonfoundation.org\/blog\/changing-systems-changing-lives-book-request\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Click here to download or receive a free copy of the book<\/a><\/strong> <em>Changing Systems, Changing Lives: Reflecting on 20 Years<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p><strong><a style=\"text-decoration: none;\" href=\"https:\/\/thenicholsonfoundation.org\/blog\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Visit The Nicholson Foundation\u2019s blog series<\/a><\/strong> to learn more about how the Foundation\u2019s work.<\/p>\n<p><strong><a style=\"text-decoration: none;\" href=\"https:\/\/sites.rutgers.edu\/nurture-nj\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Led by Dr. Leslie M. Kantor, Professor and Chair of the Department of Urban-Global Public Health,<br \/>\nthe Rutgers School of Public Health<\/a><\/strong> has partnered with the state to conduct an evaluation of the scope of<br \/>\nNurture NJ and its progress to meeting its goals.<strong><a style=\"text-decoration: none;\" href=\"https:\/\/sites.rutgers.edu\/nurture-nj\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">For more on the evaluation, visit Rutgers\u2019 Nurture NJ<br \/>\nevaluation website.<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong><a style=\"text-decoration: none;\" href=\"#\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Read the two Then and Now blogs<\/a><\/strong> about how The Nicholson Foundation\u2019s supported the early development of Nurture NJ and how that funding planted the seeds for the initiative\u2019s growth since the Foundation\u2019s closing.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong><a style=\"text-decoration: none;\" href=\"#\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Then and Now: Nurture NJ<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong><a style=\"text-decoration: none;\" href=\"#\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Then and Now: Nurture NJ Was Just the Beginning<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong><a style=\"text-decoration: none;\" href=\"https:\/\/nurturenj.nj.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/20210120-Nurture-NJ-Strategic-Plan.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Visit the Nurture NJ website<\/a><\/strong> and read the <strong><a style=\"text-decoration: none;\" href=\"https:\/\/nurturenj.nj.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/20210120-Nurture-NJ-Strategic-Plan.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Nurture NJ 2021 Strategic Plan.<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong><a style=\"text-decoration: none;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.birthequityalliance.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Visit the New Jersey Birth Equity Funders Alliance website.<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>For all other inquiries, click here to send an <strong><a href=\"mailto:lmaher@graphicimagery.com\">email<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n<div class=\"header-button-wrap\">\n<div class=\"header-button-inner-wrap\"><a class=\"button header-button button-size-medium button-style-filled\" href=\"https:\/\/thenicholsonfoundation.org\/blog\/changing-systems-changing-lives-book-request\/\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"noopener\">REQUEST YOUR FREE BOOK NOW<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Rutgers School of Public Health has released a series&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":487,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"_kad_post_transparent":"default","_kad_post_title":"default","_kad_post_layout":"default","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"default","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"default","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-680","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-latest-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thenicholsonfoundation.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/680","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thenicholsonfoundation.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thenicholsonfoundation.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thenicholsonfoundation.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thenicholsonfoundation.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=680"}],"version-history":[{"count":14,"href":"https:\/\/thenicholsonfoundation.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/680\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":694,"href":"https:\/\/thenicholsonfoundation.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/680\/revisions\/694"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thenicholsonfoundation.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/487"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thenicholsonfoundation.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=680"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thenicholsonfoundation.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=680"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thenicholsonfoundation.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=680"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}