Square Roots Launches “BIRTH 40™”, the Coalition of Cities Improving Birth in the United States

BIRTH 40™ member cities will receive access to Square Roots BIRTH™
platform, custom birth plan system, leading research, and cross-city
collaboration

Announcement is part of a four-year, $4.15 million Commitment to
Action made at CGI America

Commitment includes the publication of a national blueprint and
regional summits to encourage sharing of best practices and inform local
efforts

ATLANTA–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Today, at the 2016 CGI America meeting, Square
Roots announced a new Commitment to Action to launch “BIRTH 40™: The
Coalition of Cities Improving Birth.” BIRTH 40™ will address the dire
state of maternal and infant health in the United States through a
network of 40 American cities, which will receive resources, access to
technology solutions, leading research and programs, and a blueprint of
best practices to improve maternal health in their communities.

The commitment will invest $4.15 million over the next four years to
build and support BIRTH 40™, adding ten new member cities each year.
Following an initial needs assessment conducted with city leadership,
the network will connect to families, care providers, city agencies, and
other key stakeholders in the local community. Customized educational
resources, technology solutions, and a birth plan system will be
provided to city partners and expecting mothers within member cities.

“Cities are the points of greatest leverage for change at scale. BIRTH
40™ was designed to combine this unique capacity of the civic platform
with the resources and expertise of the private sector, starting with
Square Roots,” said Morad Fareed, founder and CEO of Square Roots. “By
equipping local leadership with national experts, inventive technology,
our BIRTH™ platform, and a network of peers, this new medium will
provide non clinical maternal care for families across the United States
in a more targeted, equitable, and impactful way.”

BIRTH 40™ member cities will have access to a customized version of
Square Roots’ BIRTH™ platform, which includes:

• Birth Plan: An educational birth plan tool and system
  customized to cities
• Information: Advisory and collaboration between network cities,
  a blueprint for best practices and educational curriculum to implement
  solutions locally
• Ratings: Nationwide ratings system, benchmarking city level IQ
  on hospital ratings, and access to proprietary database
• Technology: Innovative solutions to foster collaboration and
  information sharing between and within cities, by creating a new
  medium of perinatal care through accessible kiosks and technology
  products within each community
• Human Centered: Access to evidence-based research library, a
  comprehensive needs assessment, index of human data, and cross-city
  summits to encourage further engagement within network

“Improving maternal health must be a priority for leaders at all levels
of government, in all corners of the country, and on both sides of the
aisles,” said Senator Olympia J. Snowe, the former United States
Senator from Maine and a Square Roots Advisor. “BIRTH 40™
demonstrates the potential to improve public services through
cross-sector and cross-city collaboration, and its innovative approach
will lead to better health outcomes for our nation’s mothers and
infants.”

“As a mayor, the health, safety, and well-being of my citizens is my top
priority,” said Mayor-elect Darryl Grennell of Natchez, Mississippi.
“Having seen Square Roots work with mothers in Natchez, I’m incredibly
excited about the potential for BIRTH 40™ to bring their knowledge and
networks to even more communities. I look forward to working with and
learning from other mayors as part of the BIRTH 40™ network.”

Modeled on the successful C40 coalition for carbon reduction, the BIRTH
40™ builds on Square Roots past leadership engaging cities in a national
effort to improve maternal and infant health. Square Roots has
identified several U.S. cities focused on improving health outcomes by
introducing a resolution on maternal health at the annual U.S.
Conference of Mayors last summer in 2015. Recruitment for the first
BIRTH 40™ network members will focus on these cities, as well as other
high-need communities.

The BIRTH 40™ commitment comes at a time of incredible need for new
solutions and swift action. The United States maternal health ranking is
the worst of all developed countries. Pregnancy-related deaths in the
U.S. nearly doubled from 7.2 deaths per 100,000 live births in 1987 to
14 deaths per 100,000 in 2015. The average woman in the U.S. is two
times more likely to die from childbirth than a Canadian woman, while
mothers in Mississippi are 2.5 times more likely to die from childbirth
than mothers in the state of Arizona.

The United States spends more on healthcare and pregnancy than countries
with far better outcomes. A lack of focus, collaboration, and
information has produced a highly-fragmented, highly-ineffective system
of care for mothers across America. BIRTH 40™ will bridge these gaps and
empower cities to deliver quality care in their local communities.

About Square Roots

Square Roots (www.squareroots.com)
is a mission-driven business focused on defining and empowering healthy
birth. By integrating new technology and scientific findings with
intelligent partnerships from medicine to policy to maternal care
takers, Square Roots brings needed solutions and resources to the most
critical period of life: our beginning. We identify the highest impact
programs and tools that have a proven health impact for Mothers and
coordinate the distribution of these programs and tools between
academia, policy, public agencies, and private companies.

Follow Square Roots on Twitter with @SquareRootsLife. Follow Urban Zen
on Facebook and Instagram with @SquareRootsBirth.

About Clinton Global Initiative America

Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) America brings together leaders from the
business, philanthropic, nonprofit, and government sectors to develop
solutions that encourage economic growth, support long-term
competitiveness, and increase social mobility in the United States. CGI
America’s annual convening is designed to be a working meeting that
promotes collaboration. Each CGI America participant makes a Commitment
to Action: a new, specific, and measurable plan that supports increased
economic growth and opportunity. To date, CGI America participants have
made more than 500 commitments, which have improved the lives of nearly
2.4 million people.

Contacts

Square Roots
Aaron Kinnari
press@squareroots.com