Over the last seven years, New Jersey has made great strides in improving maternal health outcomes, said Tammy Murphy, the governor’s wife who spearheaded efforts to get better care for pregnant and new mothers and their infants.

In something of an exit interview with NJ Spotlight News, Murphy said the improvement the state has made on every benchmark in the area of maternal health “is pretty amazing.” Gov. Phil Murphy, who leaves office next month after two terms, has signed more than 70 laws related to this area and the Nurture NJ initiative launched in 2019 includes a blueprint for improving maternal and infant health outcomes.

“It’s really impressive where we’ve come,” Tammy Murphy said last week. “We’re on to something here. And many people around the country are looking at us and to us for guidance.”

One key critical area that needs improvement is the disparity in health outcomes by race. A Black mother in New Jersey is almost seven times more likely than a white mother to die from maternity-related complications and a Hispanic mother is 3 ½ times more likely to die. For infants, a Black baby is three times more likely to die and a Hispanic infant is 1.6 times more likely to die than a white baby. Tammy Murphy said health care professionals now have to have implicit bias training, which can help reduce those disparities.

Another program making a difference is Family Connects NJ, which will be available in all counties beginning next month, Tammy Murphy said. That’s a year ahead of schedule.

“It is the most robust, universal nurse home visitation program in the country,” she said. “Basically what it means is that within the first several weeks of delivering a baby, a registered nurse will come into one’s home and visit with the mom, the baby, the family, check on the mom’s health, check on the baby’s health and essentially see what other resources are available in the state of New Jersey that might help that family. There are so many fantastic outcomes of this.”

Through the program, nurses have made more than 7,000 visits so far across New Jersey, and in its first year, 17% of the mothers or babies were referred either to the emergency room or to a primary care physician because of a physical or a mental health challenge, and three of four of all the others got referrals for such additional resources as diapers, food security or Internet access.

While the Murphy administration is leaving office, the programs will carry on through the Maternal and Infant Health Innovation Authority, tasked with recommending actions to reduce maternal mortality and disparities. The authority is also involved in the construction of a Maternal and Infant Health Innovation Center in Trenton, which Tammy Murphy called a “birthing desert.” The center will be the first of its kind in the nation, she said, and similar to a cancer or cardiac center but for pregnancy.

“The maternal and infant health innovation authority is what will ensure that this, all this work, does not come to naught, and that we are the safest and most equitable state in the country to deliver and raise a baby,” Tammy Murphy said.

Murphy addressed some other topics, as well, during the wide-ranging interview.

• Chair of the board of New York-New Jersey 2026 FIFA World Cup, Tammy Murphy said “scores of people” in both states are working daily to ensure the success of the games and primarily are focused on security, transportation, the economic impact and the “fan experience,” which will include festivals and entertainment throughout the 39 days of the tournament.
• Tammy Murphy has been part of a number of economic missions the governor and staff have taken during his term in office. She said New Jersey “sells well” to the rest of the world and that these trips have brought jobs to the state and had a positive economic impact.
• She said she had not planned to run for public office but was encouraged by others to do so following the indictment in 2023 of then-U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez on corruption charges – he was convicted and resigned. Tammy Murphy bowed out of the race before the Democratic primary but said she is “happy that I did it.”
• The Office of the First Lady under Tammy Murphy has been “a little bit like a catcher’s mitt behind the governor’s office,” willing to help anyone with a problem not quite within the purview of her husband’s duties.

“My hope is that everyone knows that we’ve tried our best to make New Jersey stronger and fairer, and that’s all we’ve been trying to do every day,” Tammy Murphy said.

As for the future, that’s still up in the air, she said.

“The fact that matter is we’re going to take a little step back,” Tammy Murphy said. “We’re going to take a vacation together, and we are going to really then think about what we want to do when we grow up, and not before then.”