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Within the past five years, West Virginia has seen the closure of three hospitals, while four other hospitals permanently closed their maternity care facilities. Currently, most women and their families must drive at least 30 minutes and up to two to three hours each way to visit their maternity care provider, to access high-risk specialty care, and to give birth. According to the Centers for Diseases Control and Prevention’s National Center for Health Statistics, West Virginia ranks seventh highest in cesarean delivery, fourth highest in preterm births, 10th highest for low birth weight, eighth highest for infant mortality, and 20th highest for maternal mortality.

To combat these problems, the WV Rural Maternity and Obstetrics Management Strategies(RMOMS) program was developed to improve the continuity of maternity care for women from preconception through pregnancy, childbirth, and postpartum in the eight rural counties of Braxton, Calhoun, Gilmer, Lewis, Nicholas, Roane, Upshur, and Webster.

The $4 million, four-year program was funded through 2026 by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) to address four focus areas:

Program Goals

  1. Improve maternal and neonatal outcomes in this rural region

  2. Develop a sustainable network approach to increase the delivery and access of preconception, pregnancy, labor and delivery, and postpartum services

  3. Develop a safe childbirth environment with the support and access to specialty care for perinatal women and infants

  4. Develop sustainable financing models for the provision of maternity and obstetrics care in rural hospitals and communities

The RMOMS program was launched nationally in 2019 to improve maternal health in rural areas as part of the Department of Health and Human Services’ Improving Maternal Health in America initiative. The program, which is funded by the HRSA through the Federal Office of Rural Health Policy (FORHP) and the Maternal and Child Health Bureau, uses network models to increase access to maternal and obstetrics care in rural communities and to improve health outcomes for mothers and infants.

Collaborative Members

  • Braxton County Memorial Hospital
  • Camden on Gauley, Camden Family Health
  • Charleston Area Medical Center (CAMC) Women and Children’s Hospital
  • CAMC Academic Medicine Research
  • Community Care of West Virginia
  • Minnie Hamilton Health Care Center, Inc.
  • New River Health Association Inc.
  • Partners in Health Network, Inc.
  • Roane General Hospital
  • St. Joseph Hospital of Buckhannon
  • Stonewall Jackson Hospital
  • Summersville Regional Medical Center
  • Webster Memorial Hospital
  • West Virginia Bureau for Medical Services
  • WV HAPI Project: West Virginia Healthy Start/Helping Appalachian Parents and Infants Project
  • West Virginia Home Visitation Program
  • West Virginia Primary Care Association

“Place your hand on a map in the middle of West Virginia and you will find few hospitals and no birthing centers that offer delivery services as well as a scarcity of providers who care for pregnant women and their babies. The West Virginia RMOMS project hopes to change that.”

-Shauna Lively, EdD, RN, LCCE
Director, RMOMS Project

Program Impact

The WV RMOMS program is already succeeding in its early goals, including:

1. Working with FQHCs in the target area to initiate or enhance obstetric and maternity care in five sites.

2. Providing start-up funding for telehealth, doulas and mother navigators.

3. Providing professionals with lactation education and childbirth instructor training in all 8 RMOMS counties.

4. Establishing Data, Clinical, and Financial workgroups.