As Black Maternal Health Week comes to a close, it is essential to recognize the significance of Black women's wellness. Black women continue to be disproportionately impacted by enduring rates of maternal morbidity and mortality, which are highest in the United States among industrialized nations.  Although every pregnancy-related death is tragic, it’s a devastating fact

Why Maternal Health? The United States has the highest rates of maternal mortality and morbidity among all developed countries. In 2020, the maternal mortality rate in the United States was 23.8 per 100,000 live births1 and an estimated 50,000-60,000 pregnant people experienced severe maternal morbidity. 2 Within the United States, there are significant disparities in

This report presents maternal mortality rates for 2021 based on data from the National Vital Statistics System. A maternal death is defined by the World Health Organization as “the death of a woman while pregnant or within 42 days of termination of pregnancy, irrespective of the duration and the site of the pregnancy, from any

Maternal Mortality Review Committees (MMRCs) are multidisciplinary committees that convene at the state or local level to comprehensively review deaths during or within a year of pregnancy (pregnancy-associated deaths). MMRCs have access to clinical and non-clinical information (e.g., vital records, medical records, social service records) to more fully understand the circumstances surrounding each death, determine

Abstract   The Affordable Care Act (ACA) Medicaid expansions increased preconception and postpartum insurance coverage among low-income birthing people, leading to greater use of outpatient care. In this study we evaluated whether the expansions affected rates of postpartum hospitalization. Our analyses took advantage of underused longitudinal hospital data from the period 2010–17 to examine hospitalizations

Introduction: Enhanced prenatal/postnatal care home visiting programs for Medicaid-insured women have significant positive impacts on care and health outcomes. However, enhanced prenatal care participation rates are typically low, enrolling <30% of eligible women. This study investigates the impacts of a population-based systems approach on timely enhanced prenatal care participation and other healthcare utilization.    

Nearly 60 years ago, the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. presented an unclouded vision, one that challenged U.S. society to pursue racial justice, at its roots.  He called for the dismantling of systems that work to uphold inequity and injustice, as Black and Brown people could not, and still cannot, do this work alone. 

On Tuesday, December 7, 2021, Vice President Kamala Harris hosted a summit at the White House to mark the first-ever federal Maternal Health Day of Action.  The Vice President issued a nationwide Call to Action to the public and private sectors, to help improve maternal health outcomes in the United States.     You can view a recording of the full day’s event below