Prenatal Care Coordination (PNCC) is a Medicaid fee-for-service that provides reimbursement for supportive services to mothers and infants at high risk of adverse outcomes. Services include health education, care coordination, referral to needed services, and social support. Currently, the implementation of PNCC programs is highly variable. We aimed to identify and describe the contextual factors that influence implementation of PNCC. Using a qualitative descriptive approach and theoretical reflexive thematic analysis techniques, we conducted observation and semistructured interviews with all PNCC staff at two PNCC sites in Wisconsin, representing diversity in region and patient population. We thematically analyzed interview data to examine how contextual factors influenced program implementation with the Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research as a sensitizing model. Observational field notes were used to triangulate interview data. Overall, participants endorsed the goals of PNCC and believed in its potential. However, participants asserted that the external policy context limited their impact. In response, they developed local strategies to combat barriers and work toward better outcomes. Our findings support the need to study the implementation of perinatal public and community health interventions and consider "health in all policies." Several changes would maximize PNCC's impact on maternal health: increased collaboration among policy stakeholders would reduce barriers; increased reimbursement would enable PNCC providers to better meet the complex needs of clients; and expansions in postpartum Medicaid coverage would extend the PNCC eligibility period. Nurses who provide PNCC have unique insights that should be leveraged to inform maternal-child health policy.
Keywords: health policy; implementation science; nursing; prenatal care; public health.