AASTEC Success Story: New Mexico Tribal Maternal Health Data Efforts
Prepared by: Amy Muchna, MPH, AASTEC Public Health Evaluation and Health Promotion Specialist
In 2023, the Albuquerque Area Indian Health Board (AAIHB) Albuquerque Area Southwest Tribal Epidemiology Center (AASTEC) collaborated with the New Mexico Department of Health (NMDOH) to begin organizing a consortium of local tribal maternal health experts. The resulting New Mexico Maternal Health Innovation Research and Data Consortium was formed to provide technical support to the statewide maternal health taskforce to address complex surveillance and data innovations to inform and support policy and strategic planning. The consortium works to review existing data systems and align research and data analysis agendas to inform the improvement of maternal health across New Mexico.
On June 17, 2026, NMDOH and AAIHB AASTEC collaborated to host a successful consortium meeting. Attendees included additional partners from the Navajo Epidemiology Center, the Healthy Navajo K’é (Families) Project, Presbyterian Healthcare Services, the University of New Mexico, the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, the New Mexico Breastfeeding Task Force, and Project ECHO.
The consortium meeting agenda included a discussion of the New Mexico Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System (PRAMS) data, Tribal PRAMS (TPRAMS) data and report highlights, an update on PRAMS activity, and the Navajo Nation Maternal and Child Health Needs Assessment along with Navajo PRAMS updates. Attendees were then asked to participate in topic-specific discussions to determine how well current data systems address each topic and to determine needs for each topic area.
The four topics discussed were 1) Strength-based and Asset-based Measures, 2) Respectful Perinatal and Labor and Delivery Care, 3) Social Support, and 4) Access to Doula Providers and Awareness of Birthing Options.
Findings from the guided topic discussions provided directives for the consortium and will help guide their future steps as a group. Some of the highlighted findings include:
- Amplify community voices helping to define key terms and provide context for the data.
- Help identify what data are currently available and where there are gaps in the data.
- Assist institutions in gathering community input and guidance to determine what data to collect, following Indigenous Data Sovereignty principles.
- Advocate for systems and policy change to improve standards and quality of care.
New Mexico Maternal Health Innovation Research and Data Consortium Objectives:
- Leverage existing population surveillance systems such as NM PRAMS and Tribal PRAMS to improve metrics for maternal and perinatal health.
- Support evaluation of the 12-month postpartum benefit in Medicaid.
- Strengthen capacity for pregnancy-associated death review and policy translation.
- Support quality improvement and analytic design for Birthing-Friendly hospital designation frameworks.
- Define and apply patient-centered and systems-based indicators to measure respectful maternity and perinatal care in NM.
For questions about the New Mexico Maternal Health Innovation Research and Data Consortium or the event planning process, please contact Dr. Sheldwin Yazzie at shyazzie@aaihb.org.
