Rural Maternal Health ECHO

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Creating a Community of Practice

Empowering Care, Strengthening Outcomes

According to the March of Dimes Report Card1, Louisiana has rates higher than the national average in preterm birth, infant mortality, maternal mortality, and inadequate prenatal care. The data also demonstrates that maternal and infant health outcomes and access to care vary among groups across the state.

The Louisiana Rural Health Association (LRHA) and the Louisiana State Office of Rural Health (Louisiana SORH) are dedicated to addressing the needs of Louisiana rural providers and ensuring access to healthcare in rural communities. LRHA and Louisiana SORH are working in collaboration with The Provider-to-Provider Consultation Line (PPCL), a no-cost telehealth consultation and education program that helps health care providers address the behavioral and mental health needs of pediatric patients (ages 0-21) and perinatal patients. Together, these organizations have created the Rural Maternal Health ECHO.

Rural Maternal Health ECHO is designed to increase the knowledge capacity of rural providers who support pregnant patients, thereby improving maternal and infant mortality outcomes for those receiving care in rural facilities. The vision of this program is to focus on skills and resources that primary care providers and other healthcare professionals can leverage to better manage and support pregnant patients in a rural primary care setting and create a group practice of learning to develop a team approach for caring for individuals.


Bridging Gaps to Improve Maternal Outcomes in Louisiana

According to March of Dimes Maternity Care Report, 26.6 percent of Louisiana parishes are defined as maternity care deserts compared to 32.6 percent in the U.S.  Read more by clicking the Distance to Care by Rurality bar graph.


Sources: United States Census Bureau. “S1301 : Fertility.” American Community Survey. 2017-2021. Web. 1 Nov 2022. American Hospital Association, 2021; American Board of Family Medicine, 2017-2020; U.S. Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), Area Health Resources Files, 2022.

Partnership

Rural Maternal Health ECHO Partners

Registration

Beginning July 2025, sessions will be held for 6 consecutive months on the 2nd Wednesday for 90 minutes at 12 noon, CST. Physicians, advanced practice providers, clinical staff, specifically rural health clinics, and rising maternal and birthing professionals are encouraged to register. Once registered, a Rural Maternal Health ECHO staff member will reach out with more information.

Registration Opening Soon!


Rural Maternal Health ECHO Schedule

DateTopicSpeaker
July 9, 2025TBATBA
August 13, 2025TBATBA
September 17, 2025TBATBA
October 8, 2025TBATBA
November 2, 2023TBATBA
November 12, 2025TBATBA
December 10, 2025TBATBA

Rural Maternal Health ECHO Joining Benefit:

  1. Establishes a Community of Practice by engaging in a virtual community with their peers.
  2. Improving Maternal Healthcare by sharing best practice care for pregnant and postpartum patients in rural Louisiana.
  3. Front-line clinicians who join can have access to free resources and support needed to reduce maternal mortality and address perinatal mental health. 
  4. Increases provider confidence and self-efficacy in treating patients

Expectations

Session Structure:

  • Introduction/ Networking Sharing
  • Case Presentation/ Real World Application
  • Clarifying Questions and Recommendations/Sharing Best Practices
  • Didactic Presentation/Education and Learning
  • Q&A

Meet the Rural Maternal Health ECHO Hub Team

  • Peggy Gautreau, Certified Nurse Midwife, Facilitator

    Originally from New Orleans. Peggy began her career in an Emergency Room at Charity Hospital for 10 years as an Emergency Room Nurse. After completing graduate school, she did a 10 year stint as a Nurse Midwife with North Oaks OBGYN. In October of 2013, Peggy wanted to extend help to more people in which the Total Family Medical Legacy began. Peggy sees females of all ages for a variety of Women’s Health and Gynecological care. She is a strong advocate for empowering her team, and she fiercely believes that the team plays a pivotal role in shaping modern health care.

  • Dr. Kellin Reynolds, OBGYN

    Dr. Kellin Reynolds is a senior physician and board-certified obstetrician and gynecologist. She is the senior site lead for Women’s Services for the Bayou Region. She sees patients at Ochsner Women’s Health Center – Raceland. Dr. Reynolds received her Doctor of Medicine degree from Louisiana State University School of Medicine in New Orleans where she also completed her residency. She is a fellow of the American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists and has been practicing at Ochsner for ten years. She is currently a faculty member for the Louisiana Perinatal Quality Collaborative. She lives in Houma, Louisiana with her husband and three sons.

  • Gia Landry, MD, MPH

    Dr. Gia Landry is a native of New Orleans, Louisiana who attended college at Howard University, Harvard Medical School, Johns Hopkins for residency, Baylor in Houston for gastroenterology fellowship and Tulane for transplant hepatology. While in fellowship she earned her Master of Public Health (MPH) degree in Epidemiology from the University of Texas School of Public Health. She is a practicing transplant hepatologist at Ochsner Health and director of hepatology for The Liver Center Ochsner Baton Rouge. Dr. Landry started The Liver Center, which has brought advanced liver and transplant-related care to the region and beyond, servicing patients throughout the state of Louisiana.  She is also a Clinical Assistant Professor of Medicine at Louisiana State University where she supervises the residents and medical students in the liver disease clinic. At LSU she also lectures to the residents and medical students.

    Dr. Landry utilizes her MPH and clinical expertise as the Clinical Network Specialist for the Louisiana Department of Health’s initiative to eliminate hepatitis C (HCV). The hepatitis C elimination initiative is one of the first of its kind in the United States, where a state is working toward eliminating hepatitis C as a public health threat. In this role she helps create training documents and provides training to primary providers around the state of Louisiana to treat hepatitis C. She has published multiple peer reviewed articles on HCV elimination, hepatitis C, hepatitis B and hepatocellular carcinoma.

Rural Maternal Health ECHO Slides and Recordings