As we celebrate National Rural Health Day on Nov. 19, it’s important to recognize the work rural hospitals are doing to improve access to maternal care for mothers living in rural communities, writes Priya Bathija, AHA’s vice president of strategic initiatives.
Maternal and Child Health News
Latest
More than 700 women die from pregnancy- and delivery-related complications every year, with thousands more suffering from severe health problems related to pregnancy, write AHA’s Robyn Begley, R.N., senior vice president and chief nursing officer and CEO of the American Organization for Nursing Leadership, and Priya Bathija, vice president of strategic initiatives, who note that such deaths are disproportionately affecting communities of color due to implicit biases and disparities.
Pregnant women with COVID-19 are more likely than their non-pregnant counterparts to be admitted to an intensive care unit, receive invasive ventilation, extracorporeal membrane oxygenation or die, according to a study of 461,825 women with symptomatic COVID-19 released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has issued two challenges aimed at improving maternal health.
The Department of Health and Human Services announced a pair of innovation challenges aimed at improving maternal and infant health.
Pittsburgh’s UPMC Magee-Womens Hospital adopted a variety of technologies to improve clinical outcomes and promote greater patient engagement.
The March of Dimes launched BlanketChange.org, using the hospital receiving blanket as an emblem of the organization’s call to improve maternal health outcomes through equity, access and prevention.
The National Institutes of Health launched the IMPROVE (Implementing a Maternal Health and Pregnancy Outcomes Vision for Everyone) initiative, which seeks to improve maternal health outcomes and reduce disparities through research on the causes of maternal mortality and complications.
The House of Representatives passed by voice vote the AHA-supported Helping Medicaid Offer Maternity Services Act (H.R. 4996), as amended.
AHA’s latest Members in Action podcast dives into the importance of promoting race equity to ensure healthy pregnancies, healthy babies and better outcomes for the community in general.
AHA Sept. 23 sponsored the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation Annual Legislative Conference session, “Advancing Black Maternal Health: Moving the Momnibus and Coverage Expansion Forward.”
The Health Resources and Services Administration awarded states, territories and nonprofit organizations $341 million in fiscal year 2020 funding for the Maternal, Infant and Early Childhood Home Visiting Program, which provides voluntary home visiting services to pregnant women and parents with young children.
The House of Representatives passed the Maternal Health Quality Improvement Act of 2019 (H.R. 4995), which would create new Public Health Service Act programs to improve maternal health.
The recently created KidsX Accelerator program will bring together 32 pediatric hospitals from across the globe to partner with digital health startup companies to meet the unique needs of pediatric patients and their families.
In a sample of 598 hospitalized pregnant women with COVID-19, 55% had no symptoms on admission, according to a report released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The AHA invites hospitals and health systems to participate in the Better Maternal Outcomes Improvement Sprint, a free, six-week program focused on reducing harm from maternal hemorrhage.
Many rural hospitals have been challenged with maintaining obstetric services but are now partnering with others to improve birth outcomes for mothers and babies.
As part of an effort to combat pregnancy-related complications and deaths, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Hear Her campaign acknowledges that women know their own bodies better than anyone and can often tell when something does not feel right.
Approximately one-quarter of healthy women with low-risk pregnancies still undergo C-sections despite the potential risks to mothers and babies. To avoid unnecessary C-sections, hospitals are making strides in recognizing risk factors for mothers and babies sooner.