Nicole’s Texas Two-Step for Maternal Health

As one of the five largest birthing states, Texas healthcare providers support about 10% of all the births in the United States each year. Our MoMMAs Voices team works closely with quality improvement leaders across the state on multiple projects to support improved outcomes for moms and babies. The Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS) partners with various other partners including the Texas Collaborative for Healthy Mothers and Babies (TCHMB) and the Preeclampsia Foundation through our MoMMAs Voices team to implement the TexasAIM Program.

Since 2019, MoMMAs Voices has been instrumental in shaping how Texas approaches patient engagement in maternal health. This six-year track record of partnership with TexasAIM demonstrates our deep expertise in translating lived experience into actionable quality improvement initiatives statewide.

The 2025 focus on the Texas AIM program has been on maternal sepsis, coordinated closely with our Texas partners to ensure that the patient and family perspective is included in quality improvement efforts across the state.

Over the past year, MoMMAs Voices has collaborated closely with leaders across Texas to integrate patient perspectives into maternal health education. Through this collaboration, patient advocates have played a key role in enhancing statewide training on maternal sepsis. As part of this effort, Program Director Nicole Purnell helped to lead a series of training sessions this summer, and is now launching the next phase of sessions in October and November.

 This two-part journey makes sure the people most affected by maternal health outcomes (mothers and families themselves) are not just represented but heard, respected, and included as true partners in change.

Part One: Summer 2025

Stop 1 – Austin (June 16–19): Nicole began her journey at the Texas Collaborative for Healthy Mothers and Babies Summit in Austin. Surrounded by doctors, researchers, and community leaders, she added her voice to the growing call for more patient involvement in maternal health. She reminded everyone that every “case study” is someone’s birth story, and every “outcome” is a child’s life. Nicole shared her view and that of the patient family partners. She showed that real progress happens when data meets real-life stories.

Stop 2 – Houston (June 29–July 1): The next step of the journey brought the team to Houston for the TexasAIM Sepsis Collaborative. Sepsis remains one of the leading, yet most preventable, causes of maternal deaths. In Houston, April Chavez and Leah Bahrencu joined the panel to share their lived experiences, adding powerful, personal perspectives to the discussion.

Stop 3 – Dallas (July 9–11): In Dallas, the TexasAIM Sepsis in Obstetric Care Learning Collaborative expanded the mission. More hospitals. More systems. More urgency. Nicole shared the same message: progress isn’t just new protocols. It’s about what mothers and families really experience in the hospital. She reminded them that every checklist represents a mother’s life and a family’s future.

Stop 4 – Houston (July 23–25): The summer wrapped up in Houston at the Black Maternal Mental Health Summit, hosted by Shades of Blue Project, a MoMMAs Voices Partner. There, Nicole joined maternal health advocates to amplify voices of Black lived experiences. 

Reflection on Part One

By the end of summer, Nicole felt the miles, days on the road, long hours in conference halls, and countless conversations. But even more than the fatigue, she felt proud of the impact being made.

“Six weeks of traveling went by as fast as the miles on my car. Names and faces started to blend together after being in front of over 1,000 people in a short time. The feedback received about what an impact the patients had on the teams made all the exhaustion worth it.”

Part Two: Fall 2025

Stop 5 – Houston to San Antonio (October 22–29): This fall, Nicole will continue her journey alongside April and Leah, MoMMAs Voices Patient Family Partners with lived experience. Together, they’ll bring the lessons of summer into new rooms, building alliances and expanding the movement. Their focus will be on strengthening networks, and ensuring that patient-centered initiatives truly take root.

Stop 6 – Dallas (November 5–7): Then, back to Dallas, where strategies from the summer will become action plans. Nicole's charge remains the same: keeping patients at the heart of the work.

Looking Ahead

The Texas Two-Step is about strengthening awareness and ensuring Patient Family Partners are included in the rooms where decisions are made. Part One advanced that work, and Part Two will keep it moving forward. Stay tuned for real time updates on our social media!