Indigenous Maternal Health Archives - Healthy Mothers, Healthy Babies: the Montana Coalition

As we look back on 2025, we do so with deep gratitude. This year reminded us again and again that meaningful change happens through partnership, listening, storytelling, and shared commitment. Every milestone reached was shaped by the dedication of families, advocates, providers, Tribal partners, policymakers, and organizations across the state who continue to show up for Montana families by supporting mothers and babies from pregnancy through age three.

Advancing Doula Licensure and Access to Care in Montana

In 2025, HMHB worked collaboratively with statewide partners, policymakers, doulas, birthworkers, The Montana Doula Collaborative and others invested in maternal health to pass legislation licensing doula practice in Montana. This important step paves the way for Medicaid reimbursement for doula services and expands access to doula care for families across the state, particularly those in rural and Indigenous communities.

Following the passage of the bill, we spent the remainder of the year working closely with the Montana Department of Labor and Industry to support thoughtful and intentional rulemaking for the doula workforce. We are deeply grateful to the many doulas and partners who contributed their expertise, time, and lived experience throughout this process.

Creating Doula Training

In collaboration with Montana doulas and birthworkers, we developed a training program for individuals seeking doula licensure. This learning management system supports training, education, and workforce development efforts across a variety of subject matter. The training is available at no cost to Montanans and will launch for public access in January 2026.

Supporting Indigenous Birthwork and Native American Initiatives

This year, we took early steps to grow the Native American Initiatives team into its own fiscally sponsored project within HMHB, focusing on Indigenous birthwork. While we look forward to sharing more about this work in the coming year, we are deeply proud of the collective efforts and momentum to support Indigenous birthwork in Montana, led by Dr. Amy Stiffarm and the Native American Initiatives team.

Throughout the year, the Native American Initiatives team continued building community within the Indigenous Birthworkers Network, supported family care spaces at powwows, and worked alongside partners to share newly created Indigenous Birth Preference Guides that support culturally grounded care.

In December, Dr. Amy Stiffarm and HMHB Executive Director, Stephanie Morton,  presented on allyship and organization building at the national BUILD Conference in Los Angeles, California. We are grateful for the opportunity to share Montana based work and allyship on a national stage.

Covering the Essentials

By November 30, 2025, our Essentials Program had reached 560 families across 29 counties and seven Tribal Nations, distributing 458 car seats and 315 safe sleep kits. These tangible supports not only protect babies, they help strengthen trust and connect families to the local systems of care that help them thrive.

Expanding the LIFTS Umbrella

In 2025, we rebranded the MotherLove Podcast into the LIFTS Podcast. By leveraging the trusted LIFTS brand, we aim to reach more listeners and continue amplifying the voices of Montana families and advocates.

This year marked the release of the fifth annual LIFTS Magazine, centering stories of lived experience from families across Montana. We remain humbled by the willingness of families to share their stories and by the power of showing when help helps. More than 14,000 copies of the magazine were distributed statewide.

We also worked to enhance the LIFTS Online Resource Guide to improve usability and ensure it functions well for all users. This work was guided by feedback from families and providers who rely on LIFTS every day.

Continuing Work to Destigmatize of Perinatal Substance Use Disorders

We continued strengthening the Look Closer campaign, a public health effort focused on decreasing negative bias surrounding perinatal substance use disorders and increasing kindness and compassion to support recovery. In 2025, we refreshed the campaign so that all artwork and models reflect real Montana moms and babies, alongside authentic Montana landscapes. It is our hope that this updated imagery allows the campaign to feel more personal, relatable, and rooted in the communities it is meant to serve. 

Connecting the Perinatal Mental Health Workforce

In June, HMHB hosted the 8th Annual Perinatal Mental Health Conference, welcoming approximately 332 professionals from across Montana, the Northwest, and parts of Canada. This gathering was one of our largest in person convenings to date and reflected the growing commitment to perinatal mental health across the region. We are looking forward to hosting the 9th Annual Perinatal Mental Health Conference next year in Billings on June 23 and 24, 2026.

In partnership with Montana PSI, we paved the way to launch the Montana Perinatal Mental Health Collaborative, creating a space for coordination, collaboration, and shared learning among providers and advocates.

We also continued working with partners across the state to explore the expansion of Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health efforts in Montana and the Montana Association of Infant Mental Health. This included hosting an IECMH Roadshow that invited stakeholders to help shape how these initiatives can best support families and behavioral health professionals statewide.

Strengthening the Montana Workforce

HMHB hosted an in person convening of the Montana Home Visiting Coalition in September and co-convened several trainings throughout the year. Together with partners, we focused on strengthening the home visiting workforce, sharing resources, supporting home visitor safety, and advancing legislative investments that help this essential work grow.

We are deeply grateful to Sarah Corbally for the work she has done to grow the Home Visiting Coalition and help shape policy in Montana. While her work will take a new direction in January, her impact on moms, babies, and families across the state will be felt long into the future.

We also continued co-convening the Montana Early Childhood Coalition alongside Montana Zero to Five.  These monthly meetings bring together early childhood advocates from across the state to share partnership, advocacy opportunities, funding updates, and training. In September, we were grateful to gather in person for a statewide convening.

Honoring Leadership

In 2025, Stephanie Morton was honored with the Mignon Waterman Award from the Montana Healthcare Foundation in recognition of her leadership in expanding access to behavioral health services for pregnant and postpartum women. We are grateful for Stephanie’s steady leadership, care, and vision. She leads her team with such grace and intention and we are all extremely proud of her.

Growing our HMHB Team

We were so happy to welcome Mary Collins as our Policy Coordinator in October. Many of our partners already know Mary well, and her leadership and experience strengthen our ability to engage in advocacy and policy work that centers families.

Looking ahead, we are excited to welcome a new Storytelling and Engagement Coordinator in January. This role reflects our commitment to amplifying lived experience and deeply integrating family stories into our policy and systems work.

We will also be welcoming a new Operations Coordinator to help streamline organizational operations, allowing leadership to focus more deeply on strategic and programmatic direction. We invite you to visit our Meet Our Team page in January to learn more about these new team members.

Moving Forward with Gratitude

This year was marked by growth, uncertainty, and resilience, including navigating a shifting federal funding landscape. Through it all, we were sustained by the strength of our partnerships and the shared belief that families deserve care, dignity, and support.

As we move into the new year, we do so with humility, gratitude, and hope. Thank you to every partner, funder, advocate, provider, and family who walked alongside us in 2025. If you’ve read this far, no doubt you are one of those individuals and please know that we appreciate and value you. We are honored to continue this work together.

When families have what they need, babies are safer and communities are stronger. If you feel called to support this work, we welcome your tax-deductible donation to Healthy Mothers Healthy Babies – The Montana Coalition. $75 helps place a baby safely in a car seat; $135 helps ensure a safe sleep space. If you feel called to donate, visit hmhb-mt.org/donate.