{"id":53765,"date":"2025-11-18T01:20:19","date_gmt":"2025-11-18T01:20:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/53765\/"},"modified":"2025-11-18T01:20:19","modified_gmt":"2025-11-18T01:20:19","slug":"north-texas-maternal-health-accelerator-launches-at-tcu-with-25m","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/53765\/","title":{"rendered":"North Texas Maternal Health Accelerator launches at TCU with $25M"},"content":{"rendered":"

In 2022, Mayor Mattie Parker convened a coalition<\/a> of local leaders to figure out how Tarrant County could best tackle the growing issue of maternal morbidity.<\/p>\n

Three years later, in a ballroom at Texas Christian University, she reiterated the importance of confronting an issue like maternal health head-on, quoting advice given to her by her friend and former U.S. Army Secretary Pete Geren.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou can\u2019t romanticize or admire the problem. You have to focus on the solutions,\u201d Parker said.<\/p>\n

Monday saw the launch of the North Texas Maternal Health Accelerator<\/a>, a collaboration to reduce high maternal morbidity rates in the Fort Worth-Dallas region.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The accelerator boasts a coalition of over 120 partner organizations and 11 principal philanthropic partners, which have committed nearly $25 million. The Episcopal Health Foundation and the Michael & Susan Dell Foundation are the largest funders.<\/p>\n

What will the accelerator do?<\/p>\n

Directly provide patients with iron pill tablets meant to decrease complications during pregnancy.<\/p>\n

Increase access to doulas.<\/p>\n

Increase access to community resources such as Parent Pass<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Increase training around severe obstetric complications for medical professionals.<\/p>\n

Provide hospitals a better platform to share information.<\/p>\n

Work from the accelerator has already begun, with 15,000 bottles of iron pills already distributed to North Texas mothers this year.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur success reflects the fact that North Texas is the best laboratory for disruptive approaches to better maternal health care in the country,\u201d said Cameron Combs, senior director of the Child Poverty Action Lab.<\/p>\n

The money is tied to outcomes. If the accelerator doesn\u2019t reduce severe obstetric complications by 20% in three years, funding stops. That\u2019s a reduction target of about 600 cases a year, Combs said.<\/p>\n

Initial data from the accelerator\u2019s efforts will come in fall 2026, said Dr. David Nelson, division chief of Maternal-Fetal Medicine at UT Southwestern Medical Center.<\/p>\n

Although the coalition was first convened in Fort Worth, the accelerator sees a marriage of efforts from organizations in the two largest North Texas counties. TCU Burnett School of Medicine and UT Southwestern are leading the charge, with the Dallas-based hospital providing much of the research defining the accelerator\u2019s work.<\/p>\n

Who are the 11 philanthropic supporters of the accelerator?<\/p>\n

Child Poverty Action Lab, coordinator.<\/p>\n

Episcopal Health Foundation.<\/p>\n

Michael & Susan Dell Foundation.<\/p>\n

Arlington Tomorrow Foundation.<\/p>\n

Doss Foundation.<\/p>\n

George & Fay Young Foundation.<\/p>\n

Harold Simmons Foundation.<\/p>\n

Kimberly-Clark Foundation.<\/p>\n

North Texas Community Foundation.<\/p>\n

Sid W. Richardson Foundation.<\/p>\n

Rainwater Charitable Foundation.<\/p>\n

UT Southwestern\u2019s research found that taking iron during pregnancy reduces the need for blood transfusions during childbirth by a third.<\/p>\n

Nelson, who also serves as co-investigator of the accelerator, said the group\u2019s research also looked at the societal causes, including access to food and transportation, that may act as a care barrier and result in iron deficiencies for mothers.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you\u2019re going to ask these sensitive questions, you better have an answer back,\u201d Nelson said. \u201cIt\u2019s very hollow and feels like a tourist if we\u2019re just asking. Let\u2019s do something about it.\u201d<\/p>\n

The term \u201caccelerator\u201d is not cosmetic. The coalition of partners, funds and research was done quickly in order to get work started, Parker said.<\/p>\n

\u201c(In) my time working in government at every level, I truly have never seen any initiative take root this quickly,\u201d Parker said.<\/p>\n

There are often challenges to deploying solutions found during lab research, Nelson said.<\/p>\n

Dr. Stuart D. Flynn, dean of TCU\u2019s medical school and the project\u2019s lead principal investigator, noted research is also often siloed within academic medical circles. The accelerator is meant to break down those barriers.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur laboratory is our community, and that makes a big difference,\u201d Flynn said. \u201cWe\u2019re not allowing silos to happen in our community trying to make progress in maternal care.\u201d<\/p>\n

Much of the work coalescing accelerator partners was done by the Child Poverty Action Lab, an organization that identifies positively effecting changes in maternal health as central to reducing child poverty.<\/p>\n

Combs said the lab connects philanthropic funding with the clinical side, in effect uniting all involved.<\/p>\n

The federal government\u2019s Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health initially awarded the accelerator $15 million, but the grant was canceled<\/a> in August as part of a wave of federal funding cuts.<\/p>\n

Combs told the Fort Worth Report in August that the support of the 11 philanthropic funders during that time was \u201cdeeply humbling.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is hard news, but the response has been truly inspiring and a testament to the commitment and the power of regional coalition-making,\u201d Combs said in August. \u201cWe\u2019re going to keep the foot on the gas.\u201d<\/p>\n

On Monday, Combs confirmed the accelerator has enough funds to start the work.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s more that we need to do to continue to mobilize funding from different partners, both private and public,\u201d Combs said. \u201cSo we continue to have those conversations.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ismael M. Belkoura is the health reporter for the Fort Worth Report. Contact him at ismael.belkoura@fortworthreport.org<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Disclosure: Sid W. Richardson Foundation, North Texas Community Foundation, Rainwater Charitable Foundation and Arlington Tomorrow Foundation are financial supporters of the Fort Worth Report. At the Fort Worth Report, news decisions are made independently of our board members and financial supporters. Read more about our editorial independence policy here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\n\tRelated\n<\/p>\n

Fort Worth Report is certified by the Journalism Trust Initiative<\/a> for adhering to standards for ethical journalism.<\/p>\n

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