Search Results: MCHLine

Annotation: In this podcast episode, host Christie Allen and Dr. Gillispie-Bell discuss the integration of equity and quality when addressing severe maternal morbidity and maternal mortality rates in the United States with a data-driven approach. Learn how the healthcare landscape has transformed to encompass not just clinical excellence, but also inclusive care that honors each individual's unique experiences and values. Discover the journey from recognizing racial and ethnic disparities to crafting a comprehensive approach that combines respectful, equitable, and supportive care. This episode is part of the AIM for Safer Birth series of podcasts that dive deeper into the rising severe maternal morbidity and maternal mortality rates in the United States through a data-driven, quality improvement lens.

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Keywords: Cultural sensitivity, Data, Health care disparities, Health equity, Maternal morbidity, Maternal mortality, Quality improvement, statistics

Annotation: This evidence-to-action brief focuses on Action 1.4 of the White House Blueprint for Addressing the Maternal Health Crisis, which aims to strengthen risk-appropriate care in rural and urban areas by encouraging states to implement the CDC Levels of Care Assessment Tool (LOCATe). The document explains that LOCATe is a web-based, standardized assessment of birthing facilities that allows states to see the distribution of levels of care throughout the state, supporting perinatal regionalization to ensure pregnant people receive care in facilities with appropriate capabilities. It presents maternal mortality data showing significant racial disparities, with non-Hispanic Black women being 2.6 times more likely to experience maternal death compared to non-Hispanic White women in 2021, and highlights that more than 2.2 million women of childbearing age live in maternity care deserts. The document includes examples of state maternal health innovations and evidence-based strategies, emphasizing that risk-appropriate care implementation should occur alongside efforts to address unconscious racial bias in healthcare to effectively reduce severe maternal morbidity and mortality.

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Keywords: Birthing centers, Data, Health facilities, Maternal morbidity, Maternal mortality, Perinatal care, Prevention, Regional factors, Rural health, Standards, Urban health

Annotation: This brief describes the maternal health crisis in the United States, noting that the U.S. has the highest maternal mortality rate among high-income nations, with more than 80% of pregnancy-related deaths considered preventable. It explains how the crisis disproportionately affects people of color, particularly Black women who die at three to four times the rate of non-Hispanic White women from pregnancy-related complications. The document outlines key factors contributing to these disparities, including implicit and explicit racial bias, systemic bias, barriers for people with disabilities, limited access to healthcare facilities, lack of skilled providers, socioeconomic challenges, and domestic safety concerns. It presents the White House Blueprint for Addressing the Maternal Health Crisis, which identifies five goals and more than 50 action steps to improve maternal health, and introduces Evidence to Action Briefs developed by the Maternal Health Learning & Innovation Center to facilitate implementation. The brief includes detailed data visualizations depicting maternal mortality trends by race, ethnicity, geography, and causes of death, and features the ROOTT Framework that illustrates how structural and social determinants affect maternal health outcomes.

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Keywords: Barriers, Blacks, Data, Federal initiatives, Health care disparities, Health care systems, Maternal health, Maternal morbidity, Maternal mortality, Quality improvement, Service integration, Social determinants of health, Trends

Annotation: This report explores the maternal health crisis in the United States and offers real-world examples and solutions designed to eliminate disparities in maternal health and reduce maternal mortality rates. The areas of focus include: dynamics in maternal care that lead to disparities; policies that facilitate change; utilizing technology to increase health equity; and recommendations for the future.

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Keywords: Access to health care, Health care disparities, Health equity, Health status disparities, Maternal health, Maternal morbidity, Policy development, Pregnancy, Pregnant women, Telehealth, Telemedecine

Annotation: This report to Congress describes 1) available federal data and what it reveals about maternal and neonatal outcomes and disparities during the COVID-19 pandemic, and 2) efforts by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) during the pandemic to address maternal health outcomes and disparities. The data is from CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics’ (NCHS) National Vital Statistics System and its Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System, a state-level surveillance system of survey-based data on maternal behaviors, attitudes, and experiences before, during, and shortly after pregnancy.

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Keywords: Data, Ethnic factors, Federal initiatives , Infectious diseases, Low birthweight, Maternal health, Maternal mortality, Neonatal morbidity, Prenancy complications, Preterm birth, Racial factors, Statistics, Virus diseases

Annotation: This panel discussion on birth justice was hosted by the Association of Maternal and Child Health Programs (AMCHP) during Black Maternal Health Week and features Aftershock filmmakers Paula Eiselt and Tonya Lewis and maternal health advocate Shawnee Benton-Gibson. Health equity and antiracism in maternal and infant health are the focus on the discussion.

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Keywords: Blacks, Community role, Families, Fatherhood, Health equity, Maternal health, Maternal morbidity, Minority health, Racism, Social support, maternal mortality

Annotation: This research compendium presents findings from Merck for Mothers' global maternal health initiatives, highlighting evidence gathered since mid-2020 on reducing maternal mortality and addressing health inequities. Marking the organization's 10th anniversary, the report examines three key areas: women's care experiences, causes of maternal deaths, and improving maternity care quality across all healthcare settings. Drawing from over 170 publications, including 40+ peer-reviewed articles, it documents how the COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated existing maternal health disparities both between and within countries, with particular impact on underserved communities. Published in 2022, the compendium offers practical tools and insights to help healthcare providers, policymakers, and public health practitioners translate research into action to achieve more equitable maternal health outcomes globally.

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Keywords: International health, Health care disparities, Health equity, Initiatives, Maternal health, Maternal morbidity, Maternal mortality

Annotation: This patient safety bundle provides actionable steps that can be adapted to a variety of health care facilities and resource levels to improve the quality of care and outcomes for patients with perinatal mental health conditions. It provides broad direction for incorporating perinatal mood and anxiety disorder screening, intervention, referral, and follow-up into maternity care practice across health care settings. Components include implementation details and resources, a data collection plan, an evidence-informed "change package," and learning modules.

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Keywords: Data collection, Evidence-based medicine, Health care quality indicators, Health metrics, Maternal morbidity, Maternal mortality, Measures, Mental health, Perinatal care, Postpartum care, Prevention, Protocols, Quality improvement, Resources for professionals, Safety

Annotation: This issue brief identifies nine maternal morbidity conditions, such as hypertensive disorders, and 24 maternal and child outcomes, such as cesarean section delivery and preterm birth, and uses an economic model to calculate the financial costs of maternal morbidity in the United States. The authors advocate for affordable, continuous health insurance coverage, including extending postpartum Medicaid coverage to ensure that key physical and mental health needs following birth are identified and met.

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Keywords: Maternal health, Maternal morbidity, Pregnancy, Pregnancy outcomes, Pregnant women

Annotation: This annual report addresses maternal morbidity and mortality in the United States and presents five big ideas on how to tackle the problem. The recommendations are based on white papers prepared by subject matter experts that provide background information and data on maternal mortality in the U.S.; analyze the current maternity care system; explore racism and racial inequity in maternal and health outcomes; and assess the role of Medicaid in understanding and potentially helping to solve the problem. The five big ideas are as follows: (1) Make a national commitment to improvement; (2) Build and support community care models; (3) Redesign insurance around women’s needs; (4) Tackle the racism that undermines women-centered maternity care; and 5) Invest in research, data, and analysis.

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Keywords: Community health, Health insurance, Maternal morbidity, Maternal mortality, Prevention, Public health, Racial factors, Racism, Women's health

Annotation: The report evaluates the federal government’s role in addressing racial disparities in maternal health. It includes an overview of maternal disparity data; a description of factors influencing racial disparities in maternal health, morbidity, and mortality; and a review of innovative maternal health programs in Georgia, North Carolina, and New Jersey.

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Keywords: Federal programs, Health Status disparities, Health care disparities, Maternal health, Maternal morbidity, Maternal mortality, Racial factors, State Initiatives

Annotation: This report provides background information on the Oregon Maternal Mortality and Morbidity Review Committee, introduces processes that have been created to operationalize the committee, and presents key findings from case reviews performed in 2020. Based on the data analysis and review, the report includes Committee recommendations on action steps to help eliminate preventable pregnancy-related and pregnancy-associated deaths in Oregon.

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Keywords: Committees, Maternal death, Maternal morbidity, Maternal mortality, Models, Oregon, Prevention, Research, State programs, Statistics

Annotation: This evidence review addresses racial inequities in the maternal health care and outlines evidence-informed approaches that address gaps in access to care; adopt and incentivize high-value models of care; diversity the perinatal workforce; and invest in community-based organizations.

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Keywords: Health equity, Health status disparities, Maternal Morbidity, Maternal Mortality, Maternal health, Perinatal care, Policy, Postpartum care, Prevention

Annotation: This data brief examines severe maternal morbidity in the United States, which affects approximately 50,000-60,000 women annually. It describes the scope and severity of maternal health complications before, during, and after childbirth, highlighting stark racial and socioeconomic disparities. The brief discusses different definitions and measurement approaches for severe maternal morbidity, common indicators and conditions, risk factors, and implications for health care costs and postpartum health. It also provides recommendations for improving maternal health outcomes and measurement, including expanding insurance coverage and adopting more comprehensive, culturally appropriate care models.

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Keywords: Data , Maternal death, Maternal morbidity, Maternal mortality, Childbirth, Postpartum care

Annotation: The Postpartum Discharge Patient Safety Bundle was revised in 2021 to incorporate respectful concepts and data collection tools. The bundle provides actionable steps that can be adapted to a variety of facilities and resource levels to improve quality of care and outcomes during a critical period in which patients are at risk for maternal morbidity and mortality. It emphasizes the importance of establishing systems for scheduling timely postpartum visits, screening for risk factors, providing standardized discharge education about warning signs including mental health concerns, and ensuring patients receive a comprehensive discharge summary. It also highlights the importance of coordinated clinical pathways between inpatient and outpatient settings, trauma-informed care, and addressing biases that affect quality of care. Bundle components include implementation details and resources, a data collection plan, an evidence-informed "change package," and learning modules.

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Keywords: Data collection, Evidence-based medicine, Health care quality indicators, Health metrics, Maternal morbidity, Maternal mortality, Measures, Postpartum care, Prevention, Protocols, Quality improvement, Resources for professionals, Safety, Standards

Annotation: Abstract: In the weeks after childbirth, a woman navigates multiple challenges. She must recover from birth, learn to care for herself and her newborn, and cope with fatigue and postpartum mood changes as well as chronic health conditions. Alongside these common morbidities, the number of maternal deaths in the United States continues to increase, and unacceptable racial inequities persist. One third of pregnancy-related deaths occur between 1 week and 1 year after delivery, with a growing proportion of these deaths due to cardiovascular disease; one fifth occur between 7 and 42 days postpartum. In addition, pregnancy-associated deaths due to self-harm or substance misuse are increasing at an alarming rate. Rising maternal mortality and morbidity rates, coupled with significant disparities in outcomes, highlight the need for tailored interventions to improve safety and well-being of families during the fourth trimester of pregnancy, which includes the period from birth to the comprehensive postpartum visit. Targeted support for growing families during this transition can improve health and well-being across generations.

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Keywords: Guidelines, Interventions, Maternal morbidity, Maternal mortality, Postpartum care, Prevention

Annotation: This report presents an analysis of severe maternal morbidity (SMM) among Montana residents who delivered in Montana hospitals from 2016-2018, using hospital discharge data. SMM refers to life-threatening obstetric complications that lead to significant short-term or long-term consequences. The report uses the CDC's ICD-10 based definition to identify SMM cases and rates. Key findings include: an overall SMM rate of 110.5 per 10,000 delivery hospitalizations; blood transfusion as the most common SMM indicator followed by hysterectomy and acute renal failure; and increased risk of SMM associated with Medicaid coverage, younger (<20 years) and older (≥35 years) age, residence in very rural counties, and American Indian/Alaska Native race. In particular, American Indian/Alaska Native individuals had triple the risk of SMM compared to white individuals, and those in the most rural counties had nearly double the risk compared to those in small metropolitan counties. The report discusses the intersecting racial and geographic disparities and provides recommendations to alleviate SMM through focused, culturally-sensitive, rurally-tailored care and prevention efforts in partnership with impacted communities. It also examines SMM in the context of severe hypertension and hemorrhage to inform state maternal safety initiatives.

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Keywords: Data, Maternal morbidity, Montana, Obstetric labor complications, Rural health, State initiatives

Annotation: This issue brief examines the potential impact of extending Medicaid and Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) coverage from 60 days to 12 months postpartum for individuals with low incomes and those from diverse racial and ethnic backgrounds. It describes the state-level implications of the American Rescue Plan Act option and proposed legislation, highlighting how continuous enrollment can address high rates of maternal mortality and morbidity during the first year after childbirth. The document presents simulated projections of eligibility gains and the average duration of coverage if all states were to adopt the extension, with specific emphasis on results for non-expansion states. Discussion focuses on reducing racial and ethnic health disparities and overcoming administrative barriers like coverage churn to ensure continuity of care. An appendix provides tables detailing state-specific actions and estimated increases in the number of individuals gaining coverage.

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Keywords: Health care reform, Maternal morbidity, Maternal mortality, Medicaid, Policy development, Postpartum care, Prevention, State initiatives, State legislation

Annotation: This toolkit introduces a three-part strategy developed by the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene to address severe maternal morbidity (SMM). Created through the SMM Project (2017-2020) with funding from Merck for Mothers, the toolkit outlines approaches to improve maternal health outcomes and reduce racial disparities in NYC. The document describes three interconnected strategies: improving quality of maternity care at hospitals through standardized SMM case reviews; understanding mothers' experiences with SMM through qualitative research; and mobilizing communities around maternal health through engagement initiatives. The toolkit highlights significant racial disparities in maternal health outcomes, with Black women being eight times more likely to die from pregnancy-related causes and three times more likely to experience SMM than White women. It also explains connections to NYC's Maternity Hospital Quality Improvement Network and Maternal Mortality and Morbidity Review Committee, showing how these initiatives collectively work to embed clinical quality improvement within holistic programs engaging both hospitals and communities.

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Keywords: Case assessment, Health care disparities, Maternal health, Maternal morbidity, Prevention, Qualitative assessment, Quality improvement, Racial factors, Research

Annotation: This Call to Action is intended to engage and equip individuals, organizations, and communities with actions to improve women’s health prior to, during, and following pregnancy. It describes the current state of maternal mortality and morbidity in the United States, risk factors present prior to pregnancy that may worsen or cause complications during pregnancy, strategies and actions to improve maternal health and reduce maternal mortality and morbidity. It includes a glossary, information on data systems, and government programs and resources.

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Keywords: Federal initiatives, Federal programs, Maternal morbidity, Maternal morbidity, Postpartum care , Pregnancy, Pregnant women