The California Surgeon General has unveiled a report. New Initiatives To reduce maternal mortality and aim to halve the rate of pregnancy and birth-related deaths by December 2026.
health officials say More than 80% More than 10 percent of maternal deaths nationwide are preventable. California has achieved a much lower rate of such deaths than the U.S. Maternal mortality rate on the rise again In recent years, amid the COVID-19 pandemic, State data show,
“We have one of the lowest rates in the nation. Now we can do better,” California Surgeon General Dr. Diana E. Ramos said in an interview.
Ramos was joined by FIRST partner Jennifer Siebel Newsom, wife of Gov. Gavin Newsom, in announcing the effort Tuesday.
In California, the leading causes of such deaths include heart disease, hemorrhage, “behavioral health” issues such as mental illness and substance abuse, and infections. More than a fifth of pregnancy-related deaths in California occur on the day of delivery, but most deaths occur in the days, weeks and months after delivery, according to the report. State Data,
This crisis is particularly serious Black WomenBlack women in California suffer more than three times the rate of maternal mortality as white women. In Los Angeles County, there has been public outrage over the deaths of women in recent years april valentines31, and Bridget Burke, 32 — Black mothers who left behind devastated families.
Health researchers have attributed the higher rates of maternal mortality among Black women to a number of factors, including the physical toll on the body from years of enduring racism, higher rates of diabetes and other chronic diseases that increase risk, and disparities in the care Black patients receive.
California officials said they are also concerned about rising rates of maternal mortality among the state’s Latino and Asian/Pacific Islander communities.
,Strong start and beyondOfficials said the initiative will help patients understand potential risks before they become pregnant and take action early to combat risks such as heart disease. It will also alert Californians to doula services and other programs aimed at helping people before, during and after birth.
Ramos said California has reached a stage where The lowest rate through a system to control maternal mortality in the country Maternal mortality review And other efforts are focused on hospitals, physicians and other healthcare professionals. So far, “the focus has primarily been on the healthcare setting,” she said.
But “if we keep doing the same thing — just focusing on the healthcare team — we’ll get the same results,” Ramos said. Health officials and experts decided they needed to expand that work, “and that’s why we’re bringing in patients.”
“It sounds so simple, but many times pregnant women don’t feel like they have a voice or that they have the information they need to make a decision,” Ramos said.
“Reducing maternal mortality is not a ‘must’ but a ‘must.’ California understands this,” U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra said in a statement marking the launch of the new effort.
Strategies outlined in the plan California Maternal Health BlueprintThe report, released Tuesday, includes a new questionnaire patients can take at home, allowing them to assess their risk of pregnancy complications and receive recommendations for next steps based on their results.
As an obstetrician-gynecologist, Ramos said she finds that often the first thing a patient hears at her first prenatal appointment is, “‘You are a high-risk patient.’ And more often than not, patients say … ‘I wish I knew I could do X, Y or Z to reduce my risk.’”
California officials also want all medical facilities in the state to use it An existing screening tool To assess the risk level of pregnant patients.
Ramos said these results could help decide where patients go for delivery. Hospitals with limited resources could refer patients at higher risk of complications — such as someone who is “going to be at risk of bleeding, going to be at risk of being admitted to the ICU” — to the medical facilities best equipped to handle them.
The new effort comes at a time when pregnant patients may face fewer options for hospital delivery: Nationally, about 1 in 25 obstetrics units will close in 2021 and 2022, according to one report. March of Dimes Report,
“Under the modern fee-for-service healthcare model … hospitals must fund 24-hour capacity, but they are only reimbursed when their facilities and staff are operational,” Dr. Anna Reinert, assistant professor of clinical obstetrics and gynecology at the Keck School of Medicine of USC, wrote in an article. Recently Published Articles,
“So if not enough deliveries are taking place, the costs exceed reimbursement. This forces hospitals to get out of the baby delivery business altogether,” Rennert wrote.
California has faced a wave of such shutdowns over the past decade, including Several hospitals in Los Angeles County. A CalMatters Analysis found that such closures have disproportionately affected black, Latino and low-income communities. The latest hospitals to announce the closure of labor and delivery units include USC Verdugo Hills Hospital in Glendale, which Plan to stop maternity care On 20th November.
