Future of Maternal Care Summit’s Post

It is enlightening how entrepreneurs, investors, and policymakers realize the importance of having specialized care for women at different stages of their lives, from early adulthood to pregnancy, postpartum, menopause, and senior years. More importantly, digital health innovators who are offering physical health services do not separate physical health from mental health and try to collaborate to provide holistic care (although, at this point, it may be redundant to call the bundle of physical and mental health "holistic care" – we should call it care). We are honored to work with the Partum Health team and the rest of this coalition to develop new data-driven, evidence-based perinatal care. #WomensHealth #PerinatalCare #MaternalHealth #DigitalHealth #Mentalhealth #AI

Read about our efforts to improve maternal health in this interview with Hafsatou (Fifi) Diop, DPH's first Assistant Commissioner for Health Equity, by the The Betsy Lehman Center for Patient Safety:

Thanks for sharing David Krane the latest release. It's so important to help share these findings and I appreciate Christina (Scardino) Lojek for having the passion to do this and run with the idea. The latest release includes additional data from the 2nd Annual State of Maternal Health report and with today being the 2nd anniversary of the #dobbs decision we thought it important to highlight what women say about what it's like being pregnant in the US today (spoiler: it's not great) ❗ Half of US women feel they have to *fight* to get the medical care they need ❗ Only 42% of women who are currently pregnant/have ever been pregnant feel they had access to the best possible care when they were pregnant - down from 50% who reported this in 2022 ❗ Two-thirds (67%) note that the current political climate is increasing risks associated with pregnancy and childbirth ❗ 83% say that more needs to be done to ensure safer pregnancy and birthing conditions in the US I marched on Washington in 1984, I think, for the Casey decision to help protect women's access to reproductive rights and it's hard to imagine we are back here again. Please take note of what women are saying. We deserve better than this. #pregnancy #surveyresearch #publicopinion #reproductiverights

Our latest blog, "At LifeBridge, Every Birthing Person Has a Bridge to Health" by Katherine Virkstis, VP of Clinical Advisory Services, is out now! Our Maternal Health Equity solution is revolutionizing maternal and infant healthcare. By blending technology with personal care, it's not only improving health outcomes but also setting a new standard. Stay tuned for more updates as we continue tracking LifeBridge Health’s journey of transforming maternal and infant care, one bridge at a time. Read more in our blog: https://lnkd.in/ecSq6rEx #MaternalHealth #HealthcareInnovation

This report highlights the profound impact that on-the-ground digital solutions can have in significantly improving maternal healthcare and outcomes for both mothers and infants. https://lnkd.in/dPhsCEEm

Overcoming Access Barriers: Ensuring Timely Prenatal and Postpartum Care for New Mexico’s Rural Women. In New Mexico, delayed access to prenatal and postpartum care remains a pressing concern in the battle against rising maternal mortality rates. This issue is particularly acute for women living in rural and underserved areas of our state. These women face formidable challenges when trying to access timely and adequate healthcare, which can have severe consequences for their well-being. Read more... https://lnkd.in/gwGE8sz8

Every mother and baby should have equitable access to health care and addressing #MaternalHealth goes beyond the traditional health care system. During Black Maternal Health Week, learn more about how digital tools could help improve access to personalized care. #healthequity Kulleni Gebreyes, Heather M. Nelson, Margaret Punch, Jay Bhatt, Mani Keita Fakeye, PhD, Christine D. Chang, Leslie Korenda Darshan Gosalia, Gargi Khandelwal

In light of #BlackMaternalHealthWeek: 🤰 Black women are *3 times* more likely to die from a pregnancy-related cause than White women 👶 Black infants are *twice* as likely to die before their first birthday than White infants ☠ The maternal mortality rate (across all races and ethnicities) has *increased 89%* since 2018 To promote awareness, FDA sent out a communication that the Office of Women’s Health (OWH) is committed to protecting and promoting maternal health through research, education and outreach. While that is critically important in improving the #maternalhealth for Black women, more needs to be done. The quantity of #EHRengagement reflects how much information health care providers document and access regarding the treatment of their patients. A study analyzed EHR access log data for adult patients from Vanderbilt and Northwestern medical institutions over 3 years. This study found that patients from racial and ethnic minority groups were more likely to receive a lower amount of EHR engagement during inpatient stays compared to White patients. 𝘞𝘩𝘺 𝘥𝘰𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳? Less EHR engagement means less information about the stay is documented, and/or less data detailing and informing the provider’s care plan. This can lead to decreased accuracy and timeliness of disease diagnosis, medication prescription, and treatment. 𝐈𝐧 𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐬 – 𝐩𝐨𝐨𝐫𝐞𝐫 𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐬 FDA recognizes the increasingly diverse patient population in the United States and has taken steps to ensure that clinical trials supporting premarket submissions take that into account. I think it’s obvious that FDA alone cannot solve this. Hospitals 🏥 , payors 💲 , and health care providers 👨⚕️ 👩⚕️ also need to answer the call and collaborate to address this #maternalhealthcrisis, particularly for women in minority populations. Elizabeth Cherot from the March of Dimes wants to see mobile health units for maternal and infant care. Given that *1/3 of US counties are maternity care deserts* (they don’t have hospitals with L&D units or OB providers) mobile health could be an efficient and cost effective approach to improve maternal mortality rates and #healthequity overall. Links to references in the comments 🔽

In a significant move for the health equity movement, HHS's Health Resources and Services Administration has unveiled a $15 million investment spanning four years to tackle maternal health needs and disparities in rural communities. Of this allocation, $8 million will be channeled through the Rural Maternity and Obstetrics Management Services Program to enhance maternal health in rural areas. Additionally, $7 million will be dedicated to establishing a program aimed at fortifying maternal care and reducing inequities in the Delta Region, encompassing Alabama, Arkansas, Illinois, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, and Tennessee. As healthcare access diminishes in these regions, especially impacting pregnant individuals, these initiatives bolster HRSA's ongoing commitment to addressing health equity challenges in the field.

In a first-of-its-kind study, supported by the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI), AcademyHealth’s Evidence-Informed State Health Policy Institute and the University of Pittsburgh are pairing the perspectives and lived experiences of doulas and Medicaid beneficiaries with Medicaid claims data. Working with six Medicaid programs, their university research partners, and eight doula programs, this project leverages an innovative distributed research network to advance racial equity in severe maternal morbidity and improve pregnancy and postpartum health outcomes in Black, Indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC) communities. Learn more about Project DREAM (Doula Research for Equitable Advances in Medicaid Pregnancy Health) here: https://lnkd.in/dRTUd85A