first lady Tammy Murphy is turning the page on what became a heated battle in the Democratic US Senate primary today making her first public appearance since suspending her campaign and resetting her focus on an issue she made a Cornerstone of her husband Governor Murphy's Administration maternal Health kicking off the first meeting of the new maternal and infant Health Innovation Authority board the first of its kind in the nation a group that'll continue the work of the nurture andj program Murphy launched when she became first lady to ensure new moms have the resources they need to support their families and improve maternal mortality rates that were embarrassingly high for years in the Garden State when asked about her ending the Senate bid Murphy today called for party unity and said despite the knockdown drag out campaign cycle she'd do it all again senior correspondent Joanna Gagis reports today's board meeting marks the culmination of years of work by countless individuals who have dedicated themselves to improving maternal Health across the state first lady Tammy Murphy made her first public appearance today after her announcement this weekend that she's ending her race for the US Senate cushioning The Landing was a critical step forward today in her maternal Health campaign the first board meeting of the maternal and infant Health Innovation Authority or Mia it is going to ensure our state continues to lead the nation as a safe harbor for mothers and babies Murphy surprised many in the room including the newly appointed Mia president and CEO Lisa assari who she was addressing when she dropped this news not only will you be heading the new maternal health authority but you will also be a newly appointed member of Governor Murphy's cabinet Mia has been established to really tell maternal and infant Health story a story that saw New Jersey ranked 47th at the start of the Murphy Administration with black moms seven times more likely to die from child birth than white moms and black babies three times more likely to die before their first birthday than white babies but since the launch of nurture NJ New Jersey's climbed to 27th but not just to tell the story but to more importantly interface with the whole of government and Community to identify Solutions we have a lot of work to do we want to get maternal Health Integrated into all Health policies so we talk about health and all policies but we need to talk about maternal and infant Health in all policies I now know uh that this work is going to carry on for our state and be a Beacon of Hope for the rest of the country what won't carry on Murphy's challenge against Congressman Andy Kim for the Democratic nomination for US Senate Murphy says dropping out was not not an indication that she couldn't win my path to winning the senate race was crystal clear once I realized what a bloody expensive and just divisive path I was going to have to go down I then realized okay it's got to be now that's likely because Andy Kim and Tammy Murphy were neck and neck in competing for county lines in the state even as Kim pursues a court battle to abolish the line asked about that Murphy said you all have been incredibly focused on process I have spent since day number one talking about policy a process in New Jersey gets people elected is the party line fair I'm not smart enough to tell you what needs to be changed or how it should be changed I've said from the beginning and I will continue to say now if there are reforms that will make our process better then by all means let's see what they are but Murphy got emotional today as she thought about all those supported her I feel the burden of all those who believe that we can get to a better place the first lady was not ready to endorse any of the three remaining candidates today she said instead her focus is this Authority and the work that remains to be done in Trenton I'm Joanna Gagis NJ Spotlight news