Goals that are directly related to maternal and infant health

• Increase the proportion of women who get screened for Postpartum Depression

• Increase the proportion of women who receive prenatal care

• Increase the proportion of women who have a health prepregnant weight

• Reduce the rate of fetal ( >20 weeks) and infant deaths

• Reduce the rate of maternal mortality

• Reduce preterm births

• Reduce cesarean births among low risk women

• Increase vaccination rates among pregnant women

• Reduce drug, alcohol, tobacco, and opioid use during pregnancy

• Reduce pregnancies in adolescents and unplanned pregnancies

• Reduce rates of mother-to-child STI transmission

Some concerns with the health care system in the United States include:

• Structure of the health care delivery system 

• High cost of health care; Structure of the insurance/ payment for services systems 

• Limited access (especially in rural and non-metropolitan areas)

• Health literacy (increased access to non-reputable resources via the internet)

• Medical errors

The culture and structure of families in the US have changed dramatically; nurses should be culturally competent to help reduce and eliminate health disparities.  Nurses should also be aware of how the health of each individual can affect all members of a family; a change in one person's health affects all the people living in that household.  It is important or people who work in health care to listen to and honor different perspectives and choices of families they care for.