NEJM article: Steps hospitals can take to reduce maternal mortality

In a commentary published today in the New England Journal of Medicine, several maternal health experts suggest four actions that “every hospital” can adopt to reduce maternal mortality. They recommend that hospitals implement the Alliance for Innovation on Maternal Health best practice bundles in all birthing facilities, and multidisciplinary staff meetings to assess and review each obstetrical patient’s risk factors. They also recommend training for low-probability, high-risk events by simulating obstetrical emergencies in the labor and delivery unit, and using a maternal health compact to formalize existing relationships between lower-resource hospitals and hospitals that can offer higher-level care in an unexpected obstetrical emergency.
 
“The AHA welcomes the steps outlined today that will help hospitals and health systems’ efforts to improve maternal health,” said Robyn Begley, DNP, R.N., AHA senior vice president and chief nursing officer and CEO of its American Organization of Nurse Executives subsidiary. “As a partner organization in the Alliance for Innovation on Maternal Health, we are committed to reducing maternal morbidity using the best clinical evidence and sharing practices that are improving maternal health with the entire field. We recognize that, to make progress in this important area, it takes a commitment from everyone at the hospital, from top leadership, including the board, clinical leaders and others across the continuum of care and we are working with the field to provide leadership.”