Series: What the ICE surge taught us about maternity care (Where do we go from here?)
Minnesota gave us the blueprint for trusted maternity care | 3 min read
“It was an insanely difficult but passion-driven effort to reach the people who were most afraid.”
☝️This sums up how Minnesota responded during the ICE surge.
There are a million stories of how fear spread through our state, and trauma too many families still carry today.
If there’s one thing I hope this series makes clear, it’s this: Fear should never determine if a new mom gets the care she deserves.
The surge exposed the cracks in our maternity care system.
It also showed us what’s possible when our system is forced to stretch. Almost overnight, MInnesota built a safety net:
🌟 Coordinated, proactive care: OBs, midwives, doulas, mental health providers, interpreters, and community providers working together to identify risk early and keep patients connected to care.
🌟 Flexible models: Telehealth, mobile clinics, home visits, proactive outreach, and culturally responsive providers reached families when in-person care no longer felt safe.
🌟 Whole-person care: Support extended beyond medical needs – to include mental health, transportation, food, housing, and legal resources.
This experience taught me that trust is a maternal health intervention.
We already know what new moms need. We just need to make it the standard of care – everyday, not just when the next crisis hits.
I’m grateful I get to do that work through organizations building a more compassionate maternity care system:
- Let's Talk Women: Bringing together innovators, investors, researchers, and frontline leaders to push the right models forward
- Delfina: Delivering proactive, whole-person care alongside OBs and health plans.
- Chamber of Mothers: Uniting moms to turn real stories into advocacy and policy change
- Postpartum Support International: Connecting families to mental health support and upskilling mental health providers
Minnesota gave us the blueprint for trusted maternity care.
We shouldn't have to wait for the next crisis to build support that reaches moms with the same urgency, compassion, and dignity.
Because no mom should have to choose between safety and care.
Follow the conversation on LinkedIn.
Read the full blog on Postpartum Support International here.
Learn more about what I’m fighting for.
