The maternal mortality rate has been climbing in the U.S., but that trend is reversing in California, according to The Washington Post.
Seven things to know:
1. The California Department of Public Health estimates the state lowered its maternal mortality rate by 55 percent between 2006 and 2013, from 16.9 to 7.3 deaths for every 100,000 live births. During that same period, the U.S. rate rose from 13.3 to 22, according to federal data cited by the Post.
2. Maternal health experts blame the high U.S. rate on poverty, untreated chronic conditions and a lack of care access, particularly in rural areas where hospitals and maternity units have recently closed.
3. California, however, has made a difference in curbing maternal deaths by focusing primarily on problems that happen during labor and delivery, using data collection to quickly identify deficiencies and training nurses and physicians to address them.
4. California's effort started around 2006, when health department officials initially noticed rising maternal death rates. The department created a pregnancy-related mortality review board to investigate the causes of each death. As of 2017, 29 other states have created similar boards, according to the Alliance for Innovation on Maternal Health.
5. The state also developed the California Maternal Quality Care Collaborative, which united clinicians, hospitals and other maternity experts to study the data and find solutions.
As a result, California and the collaborative developed manuals for hospitals and clinicians that described best practices for addressing specific circumstances, such as obstetric hemorrhages and preeclampsia. They also sent experts to train physicians and nurses on the techniques.
6. California also has a comprehensive system called the Maternal Data Center, which gathers data from birth records, hospital discharge records and other medical information supplied by state hospitals. The system lets hospitals track their performance against other facilities and find problems with specific practitioners.
Although about 40 states have central bodies like California's collaborative, no other state has launched as thorough a system for improvements as the Golden State.
7. "This isn't some weird California thing that can't be replicated," said Stephanie Teleki, PhD, who leads maternity care initiatives at the California Health Care Foundation, a philanthropic group that has funded some of the California efforts. "This is doable in other states. It's a matter of having the will and the funding to get it off the ground."
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