Maternal Health Resources for Texas Practitioners
Helping Moms Thrive in Every Texas County
Texas physicians—from rural family medicine clinics to urban OB-GYN practices—consistently go above and beyond for pregnant and postpartum mothers.
At Save Texas Moms, we recognize that today’s environment, with its rapidly shifting legal constraints, places extraordinary pressure on physicians who seek to provide evidence-based and compassionate care to patients.
We honor your commitment and seek to support you with up-to-date tools, evidence-based guidance, and practical resources so no mother—regardless of ZIP code or county—suffers for lack of timely care.
The Reality: Clinical Judgment Under Constraint
Many Texas physicians have shared that they feel their clinical judgment—especially in obstetric emergencies—is increasingly constrained by legal uncertainty. While the medical standard of care has not changed, the risk environment around treatment decisions has changed significantly.
This environment can delay care in time-sensitive emergencies such as sepsis, hemorrhage, preeclampsia, and complications of pregnancy loss—conditions where minutes matter. These delays do not reflect clinicians' intentions; they reflect the reality of practicing within unclear or high-risk legal boundaries.
The Compounding Challenge: Racial & Systemic Inequities
At the same time, we know from the Texas Maternal Mortality and Morbidity Review Committee (MMMRC)—and national data—that longstanding equities continue to shape outcomes.
Black mothers in Texas are twice as likely to die from pregnancy-related causes, and Hispanic mothers face higher rates of severe maternal morbidity, especially in rural regions.
These disparities are not necessarily the result of individual physician actions—they also reflect larger systemic forces: delayed access to care, gaps in coverage, mistrust of the health system, transportation barriers, lack of specialty services, and the uneven distribution of hospitals in our state.
When emergency care is delayed because of legal uncertainty, these systemic inequities become even more severe.
A Shared Path Forward
Save Texas Moms is committed to supporting physicians and hospitals as they navigate this challenging landscape. Our work focuses on:
Reducing preventable complications by improving early education and navigation
Supporting rural and low-access counties where clinicians are overextended
Strengthening communications and trust between mothers and providers
Bringing lived-experience data back to the clinical community
Elevating evidence-based maternal health policies that protect both mothers and clinicians
We believe Texas physicians should have the clarity and support to practice timely, patient-centered care, especially in emergencies. And we believe that no mother, regardless of race, religion, insurance status, or hospital proximity, should face preventable harm.
Maternity Care Deserts make it harder for pregnant and postpartum mothers to access reliable, evidence-based guidance—especially when broadband is unavailable, or devices are limited. The Mama Library is a bilingual (English/Spanish) educational station offering prenatal safety guides, postpartum support, infant-feeding information, mental-health resources, and local referrals.
All materials are reviewed and vetted by healthcare professionals.
Clinic-Based Support: The Mama Library
Best Practices for Advancing Maternal Health and Birth Equity
Practitioners can take impactful steps toward promoting equity and improving maternal health outcomes in their communities. Here are key actions to consider:
Address Implicit Bias: Understand the effects of implicit bias on patient care and take proactive steps to identify and address personal biases. Creating a plan to mitigate bias improves both the patient experience and healthcare outcomes.
Support Rural Healthcare: Contribute to or collaborate with clinicians providing obstetrical services in rural communities. Your involvement can help bridge critical healthcare gaps in underserved areas.
Engage in Continuing Education: Participate in continuing medical education (CME) courses and training programs focused on vital topics such as patient safety, implicit bias, and birth equity. This knowledge supports better clinical practices and improves maternal care.
Join Maternal Health Review Committees: Become an active participant in local maternal health review committees. These committees play a crucial role in evaluating and improving maternal health outcomes at the community level.
Advocate for Birth Equity: Champion policies that promote birth equity within your practice and the broader hospital system. Key actions include supporting the standardization of mandatory data collection and reporting to ensure equitable care across all populations.
Support Medicaid Expansion: Advocate for Medicaid expansion, payment parity, and comprehensive postpartum coverage to ensure continuous, equitable care for individuals throughout their reproductive health journey.
By incorporating these practices into your professional life, you can play a pivotal role in advancing equitable maternal healthcare in Texas.
Support for All Texas Mothers
This is a collated list of evidence-based, peer-reviewed information addressing the social and economic forces affecting maternal and infant health.
The goal is to support practitioners serving a wide range of women, including minority and economically/socially marginalized patients.
Bundles, toolkits, and other resources
A recent report by the Policy Center for Maternal Mental Health shows where mothers have the most significant risk for suffering from maternal mental health disorders and where providers are most needed. Highest risk counties in Texas are Jasper, Lamar, and Tyler. The counties with the lowest mental health resources available are Harris and Dallas.
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Risk-appropriate care is a strategy to ensure that pregnant women and infants get the right care in the right place at the right time. To provide a consistent approach to assessing risk-appropriate care, CDC developed the CDC Levels of Care Assessment Tool (CDC LOCATe).
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Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine partnered with the National Birth Equity Collaborative to create this infographic.
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Child Psychiatry Access Network (CPAN) is a free service for Texas health-care providers offering real-time phone consults with child and adolescent psychiatrists — including medication advice, diagnostic guidance, and referrals for patients up to age 22.
To enroll or consult: 1-888-901-CPAN (2726). No cost to providers or patients.
Use CPAN when you need quick mental-health support — especially for pregnant or parenting teens, or youth presenting with depression, anxiety, trauma, or behavioral health needs. CPAN can help with triage, care plans, and local referral networks.
Note: CPAN is a clinician-to-clinician consultation/referral network — not a direct-to-patient hotline.
More Texas Resources
Read the latest Texas Maternal Mortality and Morbidity Review Committee (MMMRC) and Department of State Health Services Joint Biennial Report, which estimates 80 percent of the pregnancy-related deaths in Texas were preventable.
Joint Biennial Maternal Mortality and Morbidity Review Committee Report 2024
Joint Biennial Maternal Mortality and Morbidity Review Committee Report 2022
The Texas State Health Plan examines the factors affecting health equity in Texas. It makes recommendations concerning access to care, rural health, teleservices and technology, and the state’s mental health and behavioral healthcare workforce.
The March of Dimes reports offer a comprehensive overview of maternal and infant health in Texas. They provide comprehensive data and illustrate where resources are needed to reduce the complications of pregnancy during delivery and postpartum.