Maternal morbidity and mortality

In Philadelphia, non-Hispanic Black women are four times more likely to die from childbirth or pregnancy-related complications than non-Hispanic White women. Approximately 80 percent of maternal deaths are preventable.

Penn Medicine’s obstetrics and gynecology teams are alarmed by these numbers and have collaborated to address maternal health disparities.

Since 2020, Penn Medicine’s birthing hospitals have adopted new standard procedures to improve maternal health outcomes and reduce harmful inequities for Black birthing parents. Maternal morbidity (health problems caused by pregnancy and childbirth) dropped nearly 30 percent after the first year of the systemwide initiative.

All Penn Medicine birthing hospitals have adopted the standards and are committed to reducing maternal disparities, including:

• Chester County Hospital
• Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania
• Lancaster General Health
• Pennsylvania Hospital
• Princeton Health

Penn Medicine’s approach to improving Black maternal health

Roughly half of all births in Philadelphia happen at a Penn Medicine birthing hospital. As a city leader in obstetrical care, we play an important role in reducing disparities and improving maternal care for Black birthing parents.

Pregnancy

We aim to deliver high-quality pregnancy care and childbirth and parenting education to all patients. We build trust with Black communities through outreach, mandated staff anti-racism and implicit bias training, and standardized prenatal care to improve patient outcomes.

Delivery

Black women are at a higher risk for severe complications and death from postpartum hemorrhage. We standardized postpartum hemorrhage treatment to improve Black maternal health outcomes, including:

• Readily available hemorrhage carts
• Mandatory hemorrhage management training
• Postpartum hemorrhage risk assessment in Penn Chart (electronic health record system)

Postpartum

The first week home after being discharged from the hospital is a crucial time to monitor patients for postpartum complications. We offer innovative programs to help birthing parents stay connected to their providers through two-way texting. Parents can ask questions about breastfeeding, their baby’s health, or their postpartum healing.

We enroll all high-risk pregnancy patients diagnosed with high blood pressure in a blood pressure monitoring program called Heart Safe Motherhood. Text messages from the care team remind patients to check their blood pressure for the first 10 days after leaving the hospital. Patients reply to the care team member with their results. The program has served thousands of women, eliminating disparities in postpartum high blood pressure care.

After and in between pregnancies

After pregnancy, we help build a bridge toward lifelong health for Black women and their families by offering equitable care, support, resources, and education.

Leading research in maternal morbidity and mortality

Our providers believe research is crucial to improving Black maternal health outcomes. Our recent research focuses on improving care for high-risk women of color, decreasing biases, and understanding microbial-immune pathways that may affect the reproductive health of Black women.

It’s our hope that our systemwide initiatives and innovative research will lead to a reduction in Black maternal morbidity, mortality, and disparities across Philadelphia and the U.S.