A Healthy Start for Mom and Baby in Dallas, TX
Healthier moms mean healthier babies. In Texas, The Dallas Foundation is investing $2 million toward that goal so that every child in Dallas County has the strong start they need to thrive.
After the infant death rate in Dallas County rose more than 6 percent between 2013 and 2023, the Dallas Foundation committed $1 million each over the next four years to the Child Poverty Action Lab (CPAL) and the Parkland Health Foundation to improve the health of Dallas County’s pregnant women and new moms, and keep more infants alive.
Putting Moms First
Parkland Health, the primary safety-net health system in Dallas, delivers nearly one in three babies born in Dallas County. The grant to the Parkland Health Foundation, its fundraising arm, will allow the medical center to care for mothers at every stage—before birth, through delivery, and into the months after—across 10 clinics and the main hospital campus, so both moms and their babies get the healthy start they deserve.
Funding covers mental health support, doula programs, and essential supplies like blood pressure cuffs and iron supplements to help prevent complications before they arise.
It also will enable Parkland to expand the award-winning 'Extending Maternal Care After Pregnancy' program, which provides postpartum nurse home visits to every ZIP code in Dallas County.
When Data Meets Care
As the research and development partner of this initiative, the Child Poverty Action Lab (CPAL) will utilize its $1 million grant to drive regional coordination and address factors affecting maternal health, including “Trust Her,” expanding access to contraceptives across North Texas; leading a regional coalition to reduce severe maternal health complications through strategies informed by data; and advancing the regional rollout of the TeamBirth platform designed to coordinate care and improve the birthing experience at more than two dozen hospitals across North Texas.
Decades of Community Investment
Reaching every mother in Dallas County requires clinical care and community strategy working together, and The Dallas Foundation built this investment around both.
“Community foundations sit at the intersection of systemic issues and solving them through a community-based lens,” said Vickie Allen, the foundation’s chief impact officer. “We can shine a light on issues that are often only understood by those impacted by them.”
Early childhood has been a defining pillar of The Dallas Foundation's work for decades, rooted in the belief that investing in children before kindergarten yields the greatest returns for individuals, families, and communities alike. In the last five years, that focus has translated into more than $3.5 million to continue improving maternal outcomes and early childhood development in the Dallas community.
