Maternal care needs a connection to everyday life

A model announcement, and work still ahead

California’s Department of Health Care Services announced its selection for the Transforming Maternal Health model (opens in a new tab) in January 2025. The announcement described helping people:

“safely navigate pregnancy and childbirth”

— California Department of Health Care Services, January 2025

The planned work involved Fresno, Kern, Kings, Madera, and Tulare counties. Selection was a development milestone, not proof that every proposed service was available or that outcomes had improved.

A selected model creates planning work for local partners. They still need to understand what a person wants help with and which services can offer it.

Ask what is making the next step difficult

Consider a hypothetical pregnant participant visiting a family resource center. A colleague has information about several services, but the participant first wants to understand a bus connection to an upcoming appointment.

Beginning with a full list of programs may miss that immediate concern. A useful conversation starts by asking what the person wants help arranging and what they have already tried.

The answer may concern transport, language, work schedules, or a private place to make a call. These details belong to the participant’s life. They should shape the connection rather than being treated as obstacles to an organization’s preferred program.

Do not assume who provides support

A partner, relative, friend, or community worker may be important to the person. They may also prefer to keep some conversations private or involve different people for different purposes.

Ask whom they want included and what information can appropriately be shared. Avoid treating a family relationship as automatic permission to involve someone.

This matters in the wording of invitations and resources too. An offer can acknowledge chosen supporters without assuming a household structure or suggesting that someone needs family participation to receive respectful help.

Make the introduction understandable

Before connecting the participant with another service, explain what that service does, what is known about availability, and what the person may need to confirm directly.

Distinguish a general resource from an arranged appointment. If the organization cannot confirm access, say so. A model announcement should not become an assurance that a particular local service is ready.

Agree who will make the next contact and whether the participant wants assistance. In our example, the person may prefer to call while at the center, with help nearby if needed.

Prepare partners for the work they are offering

Organizations should discuss responsibilities before presenting a shared service. Who updates the resource information? Who handles an unsuccessful introduction? Which questions belong with qualified clinical or benefits professionals?

These agreements need time and capacity behind them. A community connector cannot compensate indefinitely for a service that has no available appointments or an unclear intake process.

Use early conversations to identify those gaps. Describing them accurately can help partners plan. Counting every information exchange as a completed connection would hide what still needs attention.

Let participation remain a choice

People may want one practical answer rather than an ongoing program relationship. They may return later with a different question. Both are reasonable.

Explain what participation involves and make room for someone to decline an offer without having to justify the decision. A useful service should not confuse reluctance with a lack of interest in their own wellbeing.

Ask whether the arrangement fits the person’s circumstances after the initial connection, when appropriate. Their account may reveal a detail that the organizations did not see from their side of the process.

A current role for genus

Configured genus care apps and care walls can share prepared resources, program information, events, and appropriate updates for a defined audience. Organizations can use those capabilities around an agreed support arrangement.

genus does not provide maternity care, establish model eligibility, or replace clinical advice and records. The responsible service must determine suitable care and maintain private routes for individual questions.

Our contribution is to help make an organization’s reviewed offer easier to understand and revisit, with the person’s chosen next step and human contacts kept in view.

The same care applies when introducing a new program publicly. Explain what is planned, what is available now, and where people can ask about their own circumstances. That distinction protects trust while the model and local relationships develop.

The question that starts the connection

What would help you take the next step—and who, if anyone, would you like alongside you?