NETWORK UPDATES
Maternal Health Action Network: Priority Areas & Current Work
The Maternal Health Action Network (MHAN) advances Missouri’s maternal health system by improving education, access to care, community supports, and policy awareness for pregnant and postpartum individuals affected by perinatal substance use and mental or behavioral health challenges. This work centers lived experience and advances community-to-clinical integration across the state. The following updates summarize MHAN’s ongoing efforts to drive policy, practice, and systems-level change throughout Missouri.
Education Access and Quality
Expanding access to high-quality, evidence-based education for healthcare providers, community organizations, legal professionals, and families. Current efforts include a comprehensive medication-assisted treatment (MAT) training curriculum, including a MAT continuing legal education (CLE) developed in partnership with Missouri Appleseed, which is currently being prepared for delivery in March 2026. Related MAT action plans and recommendations are also currently being prepared for publication to support implementation and statewide use. A Maternal Substance Use Education Framework is currently being developed, with a focus on addiction, stigma, treatment options, and available supports in underserved rural communities.
Environment and Economic Circumstances
Addressing barriers that affect stability for pregnant and parenting families, including housing and economic challenges. Current activities include developing a virtual training on housing considerations for families impacted by substance use and creating a Perinatal Economic Stability Hub on the MHAN website to connect families and providers to supportive resources.
Health Care Access and Quality
Improving access to coordinated, recovery-oriented care by strengthening screening, referral pathways, and integration of support services. Current efforts focus on developing a statewide strategy to expand access to treatment, behavioral health services, and early intervention, with an emphasis on integrating peers, doulas, and community health workers into maternal care teams. A Maternal Substance Use Disorder Self-Screening Framework has been developed and is currently being prepared for future implementation and publication.
Social and Community Context
Strengthening community care and social support systems by advancing statewide strategies that integrate peer support, doula care, and community health workers across community and clinical settings. This work supports community-to-clinical integration by promoting sustainable, billable pathways for community-based services, aligning workforce roles with reimbursement structures, and strengthening coordination between community organizations and healthcare systems to improve access, continuity, and long-term sustainability of care.
System Capacity and Legislative Policy
Elevating lived experience and advocacy to translate community-identified priorities into actionable legislative and policy guidance. Current efforts include developing a statewide public service announcement (PSA) framework to raise awareness of legal rights, access to care, and available supports, while informing policy and systems change recommendations that reduce barriers, advance equity, and strengthen maternal and behavioral health systems across Missouri.
Interested in getting involved?
Join an MHAN Core Priority Area Workgroup and help shape statewide solutions that support mothers, families, and communities across Missouri. Complete the Core Priority Area Workgroup Sign Up Form.
System UPDATES
Proposed Federal Register Data Collection: Public Comment Opportunity
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has published a notice in the Federal Register inviting public comments on a proposed data collection effort under the Paperwork Reduction Act. The notice (FR Doc. 2026-00426) outlines a planned information collection project and seeks input from the public and stakeholders on the necessity, utility, and burden of the proposed work.
Comments must be submitted by March 16, 2026, and will help inform CDC’s approach to gathering the data described in the notice.
Read more: Proposed Data Collection Submitted for Public Comment and Recommendations
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Missouri Warming Centers Map & Helpful Resources
During periods of extreme cold, warming centers provide a safe, heated place for individuals and families to go. The Missouri Department of Health & Senior Services (DHSS) maintains an interactive public map of warming centers and shelters available across the state to help residents quickly locate nearby resources.
This tool is designed for public use and supports community safety by improving access to critical, weather-related supports during winter months.
Locate warming centers: Missouri Warming Centers Map
Additional Resources
- National Weather Service: weather.gov/eax/
- MoDOT traveler map: https://traveler.modot.org/map/
- Hypothermia info: health.mo.gov/living/healthcondiseases/hypothermia/
- Winter Preparation: www.ready.gov/winter-weather
- Adult Abuse Hotline (report seniors or adults with disabilities who need help): 1-800-392-0210 or health.mo.gov/safety/abuse/
- Mental Health Support: www.samhsa.gov/find-support
program & member highlights
Upcoming MHAP Virtual Trainings: Bipolar in the Perinatal Period (Part 2)
MHAP is hosting the next round of free virtual provider trainings focused on Bipolar Disorder during the perinatal period. These sessions are designed to support providers with practical, evidence-based strategies for care.
Training Schedule
Thursday, January 29 | 12:00–1:00 p.m.
- Pharmaceutical Treatment
Friday, January 30 | 12:00–1:00 p.m.
- Non-Pharmaceutical Management
About MHAP Trainings
- Attend one or both sessions
- Education credits provided at no cost
- Free and virtual
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Register here: Bipolar Disorder in the Perinatal Period (Part II)
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Postpartum Care in Missouri: A Regional Dinner Series
The MO PQC invites you to attend Postpartum Care in Missouri: A Regional Dinner Series, with six events scheduled throughout January and February 2026. These intimate networking opportunities will focus on the following.
- Discussing information and recommendations from the Missouri Optimizing Postpartum Care Task Force
- Highlighting local efforts to improve postpartum care delivery
- Creating connections between attendees interested in improving postpartum care
These dinners are open to anyone providing care during the one-year postpartum period, including physicians, nurses, hospital and health care leadership, community-based organizations, doulas, midwives, birth workers, psychiatrists, therapists, peer support specialists, and more. Dinner is complimentary for attendees. Spots for these dinners are limited, so we encourage you to register for the dinner nearest you.
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Maternal SUD and NAS Summit — Save the Date & Register
Save the dates March 31 – April 1, 2026 for the Maternal SUD and NAS Summit in Columbia, Missouri at the Courtyard by Marriott Columbia (3301 Lemone Industrial Boulevard). Day 1 starts with registration at 9:00 a.m. and programming from 10:00 a.m.–4:30 p.m., and Day 2 runs 8:30 a.m.–11:30 a.m. A finalized agenda will be released soon. This summit will bring together providers, partners, and policymakers to strengthen care for families affected by maternal substance use and neonatal abstinence syndrome.
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Register here: Maternal SUD and NAS Summit
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Share Your Insights: MO PQC Maternal SUD Experience Survey
The Missouri Perinatal Quality Collaborative (MO PQC) is conducting a Maternal SUD Experience Survey to better understand knowledge, barriers, and opportunities in caring for women with substance use disorder (SUD). We invite professionals across all roles, clinical providers, community-based staff, public health workers, child welfare and juvenile court staff, and peer recovery specialists, to participate and share their perspectives.
Your input will help shape future training and programming for providers supporting mothers with SUD. Survey results will be shared broadly through the MO PQC in 2026.
As a thank-you, participants who provide their email at the end of the survey will be entered into a random drawing for one of five $100 Amazon e-gift cards. Your responses will remain confidential and separate from your email.
Take the survey: Maternal SUD Experience Survey
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Insights & Innovations
Missouri Approves Recovery High School for Kansas City Teens Battling Addiction
Missouri’s State Board of Education has approved three pilot recovery high schools, including one planned for Kansas City. These schools are designed to support students diagnosed with substance use disorders or co-occurring mental health conditions by combining academic instruction with structured recovery supports. The Kansas City school is expected to open in fall 2026 and will be evaluated annually to assess student outcomes and long-term sustainability.
Read more: Missouri Approves Recovery High School for Kansas City Teens Battling Addiction
Evidence-Based Care for Clients With Co-Occurring Substance Use Disorders and Eating Disorders
This new SAMHSA advisory provides guidance for health care practitioners on delivering integrated, evidence-based, person-centered care for individuals experiencing both substance use disorders (SUDs) and eating disorders. The advisory outlines the relationship between these co-occurring conditions and offers tools for screening, referrals, and treatment planning to help clients attain and maintain recovery. It supports trauma-informed, holistic approaches that address both disorders together to improve outcomes and reduce treatment barriers.
Read more: Evidence-Based Care for Clients With Co-Occurring Substance Use Disorders and Eating Disorders
Inside the Battle for the Future of Addiction Medicine
This KFF Health News report highlights tensions in addiction care through the experience of a Louisiana physician whose harm-reduction-oriented approach to treating people with opioid use disorder drew scrutiny from hospital supervisors. The article explores debates over prescribing practices, especially the use of medications like buprenorphine, considered a gold-standard treatment, and how flexible, patient-centered care can clash with conventional standards. It sheds light on broader challenges in balancing evidence-based addiction medicine with institutional expectations and patient needs.
Read more: Inside the Battle for the Future of Addiction Medicine
Illinois Report Shows Rise in Pregnancy-Related Deaths and Persistent Racial Disparities
The latest Illinois Maternal Mortality Data Report reveals that pregnancy-related deaths increased between 2021 and 2022, with 91 % of these deaths judged potentially preventable, underlining ongoing gaps in care and equity. Black Illinoisans continue to face the highest maternal mortality rates, more than twice as likely to die from any pregnancy-related cause and more than three times as likely to die from medical complications than White women. Contributing factors include substance use disorder, blood clots, COVID-19, discrimination, and systemic inequities in access to care. The report’s findings are informing the state’s Birth Equity Blueprint, aimed at expanding access to quality care, improving provider training, and strengthening community partnerships to reduce preventable deaths.
Trends in US Preterm Birth Rates by Household Income and Race and Ethnicity
This nationally representative cross-sectional study examined U.S. preterm birth trends from 2011 to 2021 using Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System (PRAMS) data. Findings show that preterm birth rates increased over time among low-income households (<200% of the federal poverty level) while remaining stable among higher-income groups. Across all income levels, Black mothers had the highest preterm birth rates, indicating persistent racial and ethnic disparities in preterm birth outcomes that are not fully explained by income alone.
Read more: Trends in US Preterm Birth Rates by Household Income and Race and Ethnicity
Protective Vitamin Shots for Newborns on Decline
A new NIH analysis of more than 5 million births shows a growing decline in the number of newborns receiving vitamin K shots, a long-standing preventive treatment that protects infants from dangerous bleeding due to vitamin K deficiency. While the single shot shortly after birth dramatically reduced these risks nationwide, the proportion of babies not receiving it rose from 2.9 % in 2017 to 5.2 % in 2024, suggesting a notable trend toward refusal or non-receipt. Researchers say more study is needed to understand why this decline is occurring and whether it leads to increased health complications for infants.
Read more: Protective Vitamin Shots for Newborns on Decline
Drug Checking Equipment Can Reduce Overdose Deaths
This Pew Charitable Trusts issue brief highlights how expanding access to drug checking equipment, such as fentanyl and xylazine test strips or portable analyzers, can help reduce overdose deaths by providing people who use drugs with accurate information about the contents of the unregulated drug supply. These tools can alert individuals to dangerous contaminants and support safer decision-making. The brief also outlines how state policies can expand access to these tools in community settings, emergency departments, and through first responders to better protect public health.
Read more: Drug Checking Equipment Can Reduce Overdose Deaths
insights ON-DEMAND
Hope Starts With Us: Episode 93; Your Story Has Power – Episode 93, Featuring Samantha Vittengl
On this podcast, Daniel H. Gillison Jr., CEO of NAMI (the National Alliance on Mental Illness), brings important mental health topics to light, one conversation at a time. Hope starts with us sharing our stories. Hope starts with us breaking the stigma. Hope starts with us sharing resources and practical advice. If you or a loved one is struggling with a mental health condition and are looking for hope, this podcast is for you.
Sharing your mental health story takes strength, resilience, and courage – and it is so worth it. Every person’s mental health story has power: Power to create change, reduce stigma and discrimination, and build community. In this episode, NAMI CEO Dan Gillison joins Maybelline New York’s Samantha Vittengl as she shares how mental health has touched her life, how her family navigated the process of finding help, and how they learned they are not alone.
You can find additional episodes of this NAMI podcast and others at nami.org/podcast.
community tools & supports
NAMI Connection Virtual Support Group
NAMI Missouri offers a free, peer-led virtual support group for individuals who have experienced symptoms of a mental health condition. NAMI Connection Support Groups provide a safe, supportive space to share experiences, build connection, and support recovery alongside others with lived experience. The group meets monthly on the third Saturday of the month from 12:00–1:30 p.m. CT via Zoom.
Learn more: NAMI Connection Virtual Support Group
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Phelps/Maries County Health Department: 2026 Breastfeeding Classes and support groups
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To register, call (573) 458 – 6010
Upcoming Mobile Mammogram Clinics Through Affinia Healthcare
Affinia Healthcare is partnering with BJC Healthcare to offer convenient, on-site mammograms for patients. Early detection saves lives, and these mobile clinic dates provide accessible options for preventive breast health screenings across multiple St. Louis locations.
Mobile Mammogram Dates & Locations
- Monday, January 26 from 8:15 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.
2220 Lemp Avenue, St. Louis, 63104 - Monday, February 9 from 8:15 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.
4414 N. Florissant Avenue, St. Louis, 63107 - Monday, February 23 from 8:15 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.
1717 Biddle Street, St. Louis, 63106 - Monday, March 16 from 9 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.
3396 Pershall Road, St. Louis, 63135 - Monday, March 23 from 8:15 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.
2220 Lemp Avenue, St. Louis, 63104
Register or learn more: To schedule in advance or request additional information, contact: Naila Hudson, CHW at (314) 814 – 8552 (office), (314) 477 – 4197 (cell).
Email: nmurtic@affiniahealthcare.org
Website: www.affiniahealthcare.org
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resources & supports
Missouri Resources
mental & behavioral health resources/supports
support resources
- Missouri Suicide & Crisis Lifeline: Call or Text 988
- Visit 988lifeline.org
- Veterans (press 1)
- Español (oprime 2)
- LGBTQ+ Youth (press 3)
- National Maternal Mental Health Hotline: Call 1-833-TLC-MAMA (1-833-852-6262)
- SAMHSA National Helpline: Call 1-800-662-HELP (4357)
- NAMI Helpline: Call 1 – 800 – 950 – NAMI (6264)
- National Domestic Violence Hotline: Call 1-800-799-SAFE (7233)
- National Sexual Assault Hotline: Call 1-800-656-4673
- National Call Center for Homeless Vets: Call 1-877-4AID-VET (1-877-424-3838)
- United Way: Dial 2-1-1
Helpful Websites
Support Groups
- Postpartum Support International: https://www.postpartum.net/get-help/psi-online-support-meetings/
- Postpartum Support International (Spanish Support Groups): Encuentros de apoyo
- SAMHSA Support Groups: https://www.samhsa.gov/find-support/health-care-or-support/support-group-or-local-program
- NAMI Support Groups: https://www.nami.org/support-education/support-groups/
Additional Resources
Food Services & supports
Second Harvest Community Food Bank
- Pantry Locator
- Food Distribution Events
- For more information, visit Second Harvest Community Food Bank
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UPCOMING TRAINING & DEVELOPMENT OPPORTUNITIES
Find upcoming trainings and development opportunities at https://moactionnetwork.org/announcements/#events
CFRI Integrating SUD Prevention with Physical Health Care: Progress in States Webinar
Date: January 28, 2026
Time: 1:00 p.m. CST
Location: Zoom
Bipolar Disorder in the PErinatal Period: pharmaceutical treatment
Date: January 29, 2026
Time: 12:00 p.m. – 1:00 p.m. CST
Location: Zoom
Bipolar Disorder in the PErinatal Period: non-pharmaceutical management
Date: January 30, 2026
Time: 12:00 p.m. – 1:00 p.m. CST
Location: Zoom
Substance use disorder echo
Mark your calendars for Friday, February 13 from 12:00 – 1:00 p.m. (CT).
This ECHO has been renamed from the Opioid Use Disorder ECHO. The Hub Team, time and same expert experience will remain the same.
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UPCOMING EVENTS
Find upcoming events and opportunities at https://moactionnetwork.org/announcements/#events
2026 Convening for Maternal and Infant Health in Missouri!
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AMCHP 2026
The conference will be held March 7–10, 2026 at The Westin, Washington DC Downtown.
Don’t miss this opportunity to connect, learn, and advance maternal and child health practices alongside leaders and peers from across the nation.
Register now: AMCHP 2026 Annual Conference
Joint Meeting on Youth Prevention, Treatment, and Recovery
📅 March 24–26, 2026 |📍 Baltimore, MD
This landmark national conference brings together stakeholders from across the country to address youth alcohol and substance use. It marks the first joint gathering in over a decade dedicated to prevention, treatment, and recovery for young people.
For more details and updates, visit: Joint Meeting on Youth Prevention, Treatment, and Recovery
ASAM Annual Conference: Innovations in Addiction Medicine and Science
The ASAM Annual Conference is the premier national event for addiction medicine professionals, offering a platform to connect, learn, and share cutting-edge research, clinical advances, and best practices in the field. Now in its 57th year, the conference brings together physicians, clinicians, researchers, trainees, and policymakers for dozens of expert sessions, poster presentations, and networking opportunities that span clinical care, policy, science, and innovative treatment approaches. The upcoming event will be held in San Diego, CA, April 23–26, 2026, providing attendees with both professional development and community connection.
Learn more and register: ASAM Annual Conference
Maternal SUD and NAS Summit — Save the Date & Register
Save the dates March 31 – April 1, 2026 for the Maternal SUD and NAS Summit in Columbia, Missouri at the Courtyard by Marriott Columbia (3301 Lemone Industrial Boulevard). Day 1 starts with registration at 9:00 a.m. and programming from 10:00 a.m.–4:30 p.m., and Day 2 runs 8:30 a.m.–11:30 a.m. A finalized agenda will be released soon. This summit will bring together providers, partners, and policymakers to strengthen care for families affected by maternal substance use and neonatal abstinence syndrome.
To Download: On a computer, right click and select “Save image as…”. On a mobile device, hold a finger down on the image until you are shown an option to “Share” or “Add to Photos”. Once saved, you can upload the image to your social account with its accompanying caption.
Register here: Maternal SUD and NAS Summit
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SUBMIT SYSTEM UPDATES, ORGANIZATIONAL NEWS
Submit System Updates, Organizational News
Use the following form Bee in the Know – System Updates, Organizational News to submit updates, or organizational news to be featured by the Missouri Maternal Health Action Network. These updates and news will be shared in upcoming installments of the Weekly Snapshot, on our social media platforms, as well as in Action Network meetings, workgroup meetings, and other activities. To share time-sensitive information, contact mo_actionnetwork@umkc.edu
For more information, contact mo_actionnetwork@umkc.edu or visit moactionnetwork.org.
Developed by the Missouri Maternal Health Action Network (MHAN) at UMKC IHD • https://moactionnetwork.org/
© 2026 Curators of the University of Missouri | UMKC IHD, UCEDD • Supported by DHSS • May only be used with permission.
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