#UMNMCH student Najma Dahir-Abdulla (she/her, MPH 2025) describes her deployment at the Innovations for Maternal Health Outcomes in Minnesota (I-MOM) program at the Minnesota Department of Health. As a part of her deployment, she played a key role in managing evaluations for perinatal health improvement initiatives and communicating important maternal health program updates across the state. Najma hopes to use the skills she’s built at her deployment and as an MPH student to advance health equity using community-based solutions.
Path to Maternal Child Health: Finding My Why
My journey to the UMN MCH program began during my time as an undergraduate student at the University of Minnesota. In my 3rd year of undergrad, I was fortunate enough to study abroad in Tanzania. This experience profoundly altered the course of my future career. I spent time learning about the medical and public health systems in Tanzania. As a part of this experience, I had the opportunity to shadow doctors in a maternity ward and see the role of community health workers in both rural and urban settings. I saw firsthand the crucial role these individuals played in improving the lives of mothers and children. These health workers were not only providing care, but were also addressing the broader social and environmental factors that affected health outcomes. Witnessing the impact of their work, I realized that my passion was in addressing the systemic issues that lead to health disparities globally. This experience deepened my commitment to focusing on maternal and child health, especially for underserved populations. Over the last eight years, I have dedicated my career to public health, working primarily with underserved and diverse populations. Each role I’ve held, from managing an EPA grant for community health worker training in East Asian communities to my current position as an Internal Consultant in Health Equity, has reinforced my commitment to improving health outcomes for minoritized populations.
The United States, despite being one of the wealthiest countries in the world, has one of the highest maternal mortality rates compared to other developed countries. This highlights the deep-rooted issues within our healthcare systems. What’s even more troubling is that these outcomes aren’t the same for everyone. Black women in the U.S. are three-to-four times more likely to die from pregnancy-related issues compared to white women, no matter their income or education level (Njoku et al. 2023). This disparity isn’t just a statistic to me — it’s a profound injustice that highlights the harsh realities of race, health, and inequality.
Reflections from my Deployment
What are you currently working on? How’d you get involved?
Throughout the last year of my deployment, I have been working with the Innovations for Maternal Health Outcomes in Minnesota (I-MOM) program at the Minnesota Department of Health. The I-MOM program is a 5-year grant, funded through the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA). The vision of the I-MOM program is to align and strengthen the implementation of innovative, data-driven, community-informed and supported perinatal health programs to improve outcomes for communities experiencing the highest rates of disparities (Black, American Indian, other populations of color, new immigrants, refugees, and those in rural areas).
In my role as a Maternal Health Innovations Intern, I support various initiatives related to improving maternal health outcomes. I help produce the program’s newsletter and manage the Perinatal Subcommittee’s quarterly evaluation. The purpose of the evaluation is to assess the effectiveness of the Perinatal Sub-Committee efforts. The Perinatal Subcommittee is made up of a diverse group of professionals who work in the field of maternal health. One of the main goals of the Perinatal Sub-committee is to create recommendations to improve perinatal health care and programming in Minnesota. I designed the evaluation survey and worked with my internship supervisor to disseminate the survey to the members of the sub-committee. Once all results were collected, I was able to synthesize the findings, report out the results, and work with the members of the subcommittee to identify recommendations. Our goal moving forward is to administer this evaluation quarterly as we track the progress of the Perinatal Sub-Committee. Through my work on the I-MOM newsletter, I help ensure that program updates and engagement opportunities reach those involved in maternal health across Minnesota. The I-MOM newsletter is available on the program’s webpage and accessible to all those interested. Subscribers come from various backgrounds and organizations. In this quarterly newsletter we share program updates, relevant awareness days, upcoming webinars and conferences, and information about funding opportunities.
What about this work has surprised you the most?
What has surprised me the most about this work is the level of collaboration and community engagement that exists within the I-MOM program. I have been lucky enough to see firsthand how community partnerships are formed and how necessary they are to make meaningful progress in improving maternal health. As a part of the Perinatal Sub-Committee’s goal for developing recommendations for a strategic plan, members of the committee who represented community-based organizations or worked closely with community organizations hosted community listening sessions. These listening sessions were designed to gather community input on the strategic plan recommendations. This work primarily focused on promoting equality and justice in perinatal care for Black and Indigenous populations. The process of gathering community feedback, ensuring that diverse voices are heard, and tailoring strategies to meet the unique needs of different populations has been both eye-opening and inspiring. It has shown me that while policy changes and data collection are critical, at the center of this work is genuine partnerships with the communities we serve.
What do you want people, especially prospective and current students, to know about your work and being an MCH student here at the UMN?
I want prospective and current students to know that studying Maternal and Child Health at the University of Minnesota is a chance to be a part of something bigger than yourself. The work we are doing in the field of maternal and child health really matters — you can see the positive impact it has on the communities we serve. It’s not always easy, but it’s incredibly rewarding. You’ll gain both the knowledge and real-world experience that will help you become an effective public health professional. Being an MCH student here means you’re helping to make a real difference and create lasting change.
Research Experience & Interests
In addition to my role with the MDH I-MOM program, I also participated in a qualitative meta-synthesis project in partnership between the Center and the MN Department of Human Services. In this project, I contributed to a comprehensive review of qualitative studies examining the experiences of pregnant women and healthcare providers involved in the Centering Pregnancy (CP) model of group prenatal care. Group prenatal care is a healthcare model where pregnant women receive care and education in a group setting instead of traditional one-on-one visits. This model emphasizes peer support, education, and active participation from patients. For this project, my role included reviewing and filtering relevant articles, extracting key data, and helping to organize this data into clear tables for analysis. This project aimed to understand the benefits and challenges of the CP model, particularly in improving maternal and child health outcomes for minority populations. Through this work, I gained valuable insights into how group prenatal care can foster support, learning, and advocacy among participants, and I contributed to recommendations for enhancing the implementation of this model.
The projects I have been a part of show my strong commitment to maternal and child health research, especially in addressing health disparities and improving care for underserved communities. By working on these projects, I’ve been able to contribute to research that aims to make a real difference in the lives of mothers and children. My role in managing the Perinatal Subcommittee’s quarterly evaluation and supporting the newsletter has given me a deeper understanding of both program evaluation and public health outreach. Working alongside a team dedicated to health equity has reinforced how essential community-informed solutions are in creating meaningful change. This experience has not only sharpened my skills in evaluation and data synthesis but also strengthened my commitment to improving maternal health outcomes. My work has focused on understanding the challenges these populations face and finding ways to improve their healthcare experiences.
REFERENCES
Njoku, A., Evans, M., Nimo-Sefah, L., & Bailey, J. (2023). Listen to the Whispers before They Become Screams: Addressing Black Maternal Morbidity and Mortality in the United States. Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland), 11(3), 438. https://doi.org/10.3390/healthcare11030438
BIO
Najma Dahir-Abdulla is a second-year MCH MPH student. Her background is in public health working for the local government. Najma Dahir-Abdulla received her BA in Global Studies with a minor in Public Health from the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities. She is currently working as a health equity consultant at an insurance company. In her spare time, she enjoys reading, exercising, traveling, and spending time with her family and friends. After graduating, she plans on continuing her education and deepening her experience in public health research.
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