Inside Oula’s Maternal Health Innovation Collaborative

At Oula, we know that improving maternal care takes collective effort. On September 29, 2026, we brought together 26 leaders in New York City for our first Maternal Health Innovation Collaborative. What made the Collaborative distinctive was the combination of perspectives in the room: obstetricians, midwives, nurses, doulas, health system leaders, educators, advocates, and investors, each bringing a different vantage point on what better maternal care requires and a role in making it possible.

The Collaborative was designed as a candid working session on where care is improving and where gaps remain. Leaders from the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, American College of Nurse-Midwives, and Association of Women’s Health, Obstetric and Neonatal Nurses participated alongside colleagues from health systems, academic institutions, community organizations, patient advocacy groups, and investment organizations.

Bringing these perspectives into one conversation connected the realities of delivering and experiencing care with the decisions that shape how it is organized, staffed, and funded. Participants* shared a commitment to making maternal care more respectful and connected for the families who rely on it.

Their discussion produced 12 collective insights about what better maternal care requires – from rebuilding trust and strengthening the workforce to making collaborative care financially sustainable.

Bringing the maternal health community together

Patients experience maternity care as one journey, even when responsibility is divided across clinicians, organizations, care settings, and payment structures. Participants examined where clearer accountability is needed and what families should be able to count on throughout their care.

Participants also considered how integrated obstetric and midwifery models could expand access while supporting the people who deliver care. This mix of clinical, operational, educational, advocacy, and investment perspectives connected workforce pressures with the practical demands of staffing and payment – helping the group consider which promising approaches were ready for wider use.

Promising ideas need to work in practice. The group considered approaches to prenatal care and postpartum monitoring alongside the staffing and payment structures required to sustain them. The discussion focused on whether new models could reach more families while remaining workable for care teams.

A shared direction for better maternal care

Across the discussion, participants returned to the connection between patient experience and system design. Better maternal care depends on whether patients feel heard and respected. Continuing relationships help people raise concerns and help clinicians recognize change, making trust and continuity part of the care model.

Trust and continuity require institutional support. Health systems can reinforce them through training and clear consultation pathways, while workforce policy and payment protect the time and capacity this work requires. The insights offer a starting point for leaders seeking to translate these priorities into everyday care.

Maternal health also extends beyond a single appointment or the months of pregnancy. Clear responsibility between encounters can make care more connected, while stronger links to preventive and chronic care can support health before conception and after postpartum care ends. Community-based workers need a sustainable place in the system to help families navigate that journey.

The 12 insights capture the areas of common ground across professional disciplines, leadership roles, and organization types. They offer a foundation for continued collaboration across those boundaries and a practical prompt for organizations considering how to make care more connected and responsive. Read them here.

*Collaborative participants included:

• Dolly Allen, DNP, MSN, RN, CCRN, C-ELBW, NEA-BC | Vice President, Women’s & Children’s Service Line | Maimonides Medical Center
• Nikki Benich, MSN, RN, NEA-BC | Director, Perinatal and Pediatric Services | IU Health Bloomington Hospital
• Whitney Booker, MD | Director, Maternal Fetal Medicine | Stamford Health
• Naima Bridges, MD, MPH, FACOG | Chair of Women and Infants | Baylor Scott and White Frisco at PGA Parkway
• Desiree Clement, DNP, APRN, CNM, FNP-BC, FACNM, FAANP, FAAN | Assistant Dean for Academic Operations & Associate Professor | Emory University, Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing
• Christina Davidson, MD, FACOG | Chief Medical Officer | American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG)
• Ila Dayananda, MD, MPH, FACOG | Chief Clinical Officer | Oula
• Rosha Forman, CNM, FACNM | Chief of Midwifery | Boston Medical Center
• Panagis Galiatsatos, MD, MHS | Physician, Director, Co-Founder | Johns Hopkins Medicine; Medicine for the Greater Good
• Peter G. Johnson, CNM, PhD, FACNM, FAAN | President | American College of Nurse-Midwives (ACNM)
• Lewis Lipscomb, MD, MBA | Physician in Chief | Novant Health
• Tim Martin | Head of Growth | Oula
• Michelle L. Munroe, DNP, CNM, FACNM, FAAN, COL (RET) | Chief Executive Officer | American College of Nurse-Midwives (ACNM)
• Lisa Nathan, MD, MPH | Interim Chair, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Columbia University; Chief of Obstetrics, Sloane Hospital for Women | Columbia University Irving Medical Center
• Adrianne Nickerson, MS, BA | Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer | Oula
• Nwando Olayiwola, MD, MPH, FAAFP | President | Advocate Health National Center for Clinical and Community Impact
• Claire-Cecile Pierre, MD | Vice President of Clinical Impact | Advocate Health National Center for Clinical and Community Impact
• Kavitha Ram, MD, MS | Director, Labor and Delivery | Mount Sinai West
• Ana Rodney, MS, BA, RYT 200 | Executive Director; Director of Advocacy and Public Policy | Dr. Shalon’s Maternal Action Project; Doula Alliance of Maryland
• Rebekah L. Ruppe, DNM, LM, CNM | Director, Graduate Midwifery Program | Columbia University School of Nursing
• Holly Smith, CNM, MPH, FACNM | Policy Consultant | Midwifery Rising
• Katie Spiess, MBA, MSN, CNM, RN | Market Director | Oula
• Sriya Srinath | Principal | Morgan Health
• Eleni Tsigas | Chief Executive Officer | The Preeclampsia Foundation
• Katherine Virkstis, ND | Senior Director, Partnerships | Oula
• Jonathan Webb, MPH, MBA | Chief Executive Officer | Association of Women’s Health, Obstetric, and Neonatal Nurses