The overall goal of the "Expecting Something Better: A Conference to Optimize Maternal Health Care" is to examine the current state of evidence in four areas of maternal health care, to develop ways to improve care, and to increase attention to maternal health issues. Specific aims of the meeting are to review the current state of evidence on maternal health care and develop evidence-based recommendations to improve care and outcomes. The conference will synthesize and communicate key issues in maternal health to providers, researchers, policymakers, insurers, hospital organizations, and the public health community, to encourage more research and education in maternal health, and to promote clinical practice and policy change to improve maternal health care. The conference will focus on four key areas: pregnancy in the context of a woman's life span, the content of prenatal care, understanding morbidity and mortality, and disparities in maternal health care. The conference will take place May 18-19, 2005 and is designed to be a working conference in which speakers, panelists, and attendees develop evidence-based recommendations to improve maternal health care in plenary and small group subject area sessions. The conference will result in two publications: a final report detailing conference findings and recommendations and a dedicated issue of the official, peer-reviewed journal of the Jacobs Institute of Women's Health, "Women's Health Issues" including the 4 papers commissioned for the conference. Publications will be disseminated in electronic and print format, and will be available on the Jacob's website.