PHSP History

The Perinatal Health Strategic Plan 2016-2020 (PDF, 12.1 MB) was originally released on March 24, 2016, by the Women, Infant and Community Wellness Section (formerly known as the Women’s Health Branch), Division of Public Health, NC Department of Health and Human Services. The original version of the PHSP was divided into the following three goals:

Goal 1 – Improving Health Care for Women and Men

Goal 2 – Strengthening Families and Communities

Goal 3 – Addressing Social and Economic Inequities

The 2022 update to the PHSP highlights the strengths of the original plan while also identifying areas for future work.  While numerous gains were made, especially through the development of statewide initiatives and partnerships, North Carolina continues to strive to achieve perinatal health equity and must recognize that rates of infant and maternal mortality are much higher for Black infants and mothers than for non-Hispanic white infants and mothers.