Key Objectives:
- Describe the history and purpose of maternal mortality review and maternal mortality review committees in the United States, and its role in maternal health surveillance
- Compare and explain administrative, financial, workforce, and political challenges facing state health agencies, including epidemiologists, clinical organizations, and their partners in forming and sustaining a maternal mortality review
- Create and generate action plans for strengthening existing review programs, with a focus on moving data to action, or connecting with key partners and advisors at the state level to advance a maternal health agenda
Brief Summary:
Maternal mortality has been on the rise in the United States for three decades, and today is marked by significant disparities by race/ethnicity (CDC, 2014). The revised Title V MCH Services Block Grant guidance for state health departments specifies maternal mortality and severe maternal morbidity as National Outcome Measures for which state maternal and child health (MCH) programs will be responsible in moving the needle. To impact these outcomes, state maternal mortality reviews (MMRs) – widely considered the gold standard of maternal mortality surveillance - can be instrumental in identifying the causes of maternal death and implementing solutions. For the past three years, the Association of Maternal and Child Health Programs (AMCHP) has partnered with Merck for Mothers to implement the Every Mother Initiative, a project to help states take specific steps to reduce maternal mortality and morbidity. AMCHP engaged two cohorts, six states each, in a 15-month Action Learning Collaborative to 1) strengthen characterization of maternal deaths and 2) implement data-informed activities. During this roundtable discussion, AMCHP staff will review fundamental aspects of maternal mortality reviews and share examples of innovative models and practices, especially with respect to case identification, data collection and abstraction, and newly conducted analyses on preventability and disparities. The remaining (majority) time will focus on peer learning and group discussion of threats to the sustainability of maternal mortality reviews, including the epidemiology workforce and data infrastructure, and maximizing opportunities presented by unprecedented investments in maternal and child health to advance maternal mortality surveillance at the state level. Together, we will identify individual and shared action plans to align activities and brainstorm solutions that can be implemented or supported by AMCHP and its members and partners.