An initiative many said\u00a0couldn\u2019t\u00a0be done has taken shape \u2014\u00a0there\u2019s\u00a0a rare alliance between Fort Worth and Dallas,\u00a0and for something bigger than sports and civic pride. Instead, this new alliance\u00a0is\u00a0focused on\u00a0another, more\u00a0critical issue:\u00a0maternal health.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
At\u00a0TCU\u2019s Brown-Lupton University Union Ballroom, a sundry\u00a0of clinicians, policymakers, community leaders, and students gathered to\u00a0witness\u00a0the launch of the North Texas Maternal Health Accelerator\u00a0on Nov. 17.<\/p>\n
\u201cToday, Dallas and Tarrant Counties become the first region in the United States to collectively commit to a quantified reduction target in its severe maternal morbidity rate,\u201d said Cameron Combs, Sr. Director of the Child Poverty Action Lab.<\/p>\n
Fort Worth Mayor Mattie Parker added, \u201cSimply put, too many mothers in our community risk their lives when they give birth.\u00a0That\u2019s\u00a0unacceptable.\u201d The goal is ambitious: a\u00a020%\u00a0reduction in severe obstetric complications across a\u00a0population of\u00a05\u00a0million, fueled by\u00a0nearly $25 million\u00a0in philanthropic support.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The North Texas Maternal Health Accelerator \u2014 a partnership between TCU\u2019s Anne Burnett Marion School of Medicine, UT Southwestern Medical Center, and more than 120 community organizations \u2014 is designed to transform the way mothers are cared for across the region.<\/p>\n
Combs framed it plainly: \u201cThe intractable problem here is not that we\u00a0don\u2019t\u00a0know how to care for our patients. Folks in this room\u00a0literally write\u00a0the books\u00a0about that. No. The retractable problem is that keeping\u00a0all of\u00a0our mothers healthy requires our healthcare system to coordinate in some new ways.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Catherine Spong, M.D., the Paul C. MacDonald Distinguished Chair of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at UT Southwestern,\u00a0highlighted how research is already being translated into lifesaving practice.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cHanding a bottle of iron to women during their prenatal visit rather than recommending that they purchase it on their own reduces the risk of anemia during delivery,\u201d she said. That simple intervention \u2014 now being rolled out across clinics in Tarrant and Dallas counties \u2014 has already decreased blood transfusions by\u00a0roughly a\u00a0third.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The Accelerator also builds on programs like MCAP, which Spong described as \u201can award-winning program that provides 12 months of postpartum care to the vulnerable mothers in South Dallas, especially women with hypertension and diabetes.\u201d By scaling proven interventions across hospitals and community providers, the coalition aims to reduce preventable complications while collecting rigorous evidence to guide future health policies.\u00a0<\/p>\n
TCU Chancellor Daniel Pullin celebrated the partnership as a model for innovation and community engagement. \u201cImagine an effective solution that not only saves lives but is also efficient \u2014 it\u00a0saves,\u00a0and it creates models that can be replicated all over the country,\u201d he said. Pullin stressed that the effort reflects TCU\u2019s core values: integrity, engagement, community, and excellence.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Philanthropic partners have been central to the initiative\u2019s momentum. Ann Barnes, CEO of the Episcopal Health Foundation, noted, \u201cIf a mother\u00a0can\u2019t\u00a0get prenatal iron,\u00a0can\u2019t\u00a0get to her appointment or\u00a0can\u2019t afford to feed the family,\u00a0that\u2019s\u00a0not a personal failure.\u00a0It\u2019s\u00a0a systems failure.\u201d Her foundation\u2019s early investment has helped accelerate the distribution of iron supplements and fund financial analyses to\u00a0demonstrate\u00a0cost savings for future replication.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Mayor Parker brought the human stakes into sharp focus. \u201cThree years\u00a0ago,\u00a0we convened for the first time\u2026to acknowledge this hard truth together to begin to tackle this challenge head on,\u201d she said. She also highlighted the on-the-ground impact: \u201cTCU and Catholic Charities in Fort Worth and Dallas have already distributed 15,000 bottles of iron across 60 clinics and community distribution sites to combat maternal anemia.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Parker framed the effort as a test of accountability as much as innovation: \u201cWe have set a goal\u2026a 20% reduction in severe maternal morbidity, which means we need to avoid at least 500 to 600 severe obstetric complications year over year.\u00a0So\u00a0when you leave today, think about as many as 600 mamas that will have safe deliveries over the next year and be able to go home with their baby because of your hard work and contributions to today’s work.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
November 18, 2025<\/p>\n
9:33 AM<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"An initiative many said\u00a0couldn\u2019t\u00a0be done has taken shape \u2014\u00a0there\u2019s\u00a0a rare alliance between Fort Worth and Dallas,\u00a0and for something…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":54732,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[581,116,118,117,2473,1562,30115,1009,1012,122,853,92],"class_list":["post-54731","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-fort-worth","tag-dallas-county","tag-fort-worth","tag-fort-worth-headlines","tag-fort-worth-news","tag-health-and-wellness","tag-health-care","tag-morbidity-rates","tag-people-of-influence","tag-stephen-montoya","tag-tarrant-county","tag-tcu","tag-top-story"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54731","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=54731"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54731\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/54732"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=54731"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=54731"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=54731"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}