Rising Together: A New Chapter in Colorado Perinatal Health

Recently, one of our nurses, a QI advisor, shared a story about a patient she cared for in the hospital: a new mother recovering from an unplanned Cesarean birth who needed connection to substance use recovery support. As she prepared to leave the hospital, the team focused on something just as important as her physical recovery: making sure she had real connections to postpartum support in her community.

It was a reminder that the work to improve perinatal care in Colorado shows up in families’ lives every day.

That’s what this moment in Colorado is about. With the implementation of Colorado SB24-175, our state has made a meaningful investment in maternal and infant health. Through this work, CPCQC is now partnering with all 49 birthing hospitals in the state, creating a shared effort to strengthen care for families across Colorado.

As a practicing nurse-midwife in Colorado, I see every day how much coordinated, system-level work matters. When hospital teams, clinicians, and community partners are aligned, families experience the difference, now and into the future.

Over the past few months, CPCQC has released several new statewide data reports to help illuminate the current landscape of maternal and infant care in Colorado. We’ve also published practical tools for hospital teams, including a Field Guide and Sustainability Toolkit for Perinatal Substance Use, the Maternal Quality and Safety Toolkit for Rural and Frontier Hospitals, and an Implementation Guide for Colorado’s Quick Care Card.

We’re strengthening the bridge between maternal and infant care with the launch of our first infant-focused quality initiative, NEST Safe Sleep, addressing a leading cause of preventable infant death.

This momentum will come together on April 28 at our statewide forum, where clinical expertise, public health perspective, and the experiences of Colorado families will help guide what comes next.

Colorado is showing what’s possible when hospitals, clinicians, and communities work side by side. We’re rising together to give every family the best start.