Partnerships in Pursuit of Equity

Below is a summary of current CDC ERASE Maternal Mortality partnerships that pursue equity from national approaches to maternal mortality review.

 

American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists

The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) partners with CDC to convene a workgroup for standardizing identification of discrimination, including racism, as contributors to pregnancy-related deaths based on medical records available for abstraction and review by MMRCs. Preliminary results of this work are anticipated in 2023. The HHS Office of Minority Health has partnered with CDC’s ERASE Maternal Mortality Initiative in supporting this ACOG activity.

 

Black Mamas Matter Alliance

In 2021, Black Mamas Matter Alliance (BMMA) conducted an environmental scan of nine state MMRCs to gather information about the opportunities and challenges MMRCs face as they work to broaden committee membership and community engagement. Click here to access the report on the BMMA website. In 2022, BMMA will work with specific MMRC programs to operationalize some of the lessons learned in their report.

 

CDC Foundation

CDC Foundation (CDCF) works closely with the CDC ERASE Maternal Mortality initiative on activities that will accelerate innovations and extend impacts with a focus on reducing disparities and community-based action to prevent the leading causes of pregnancy-related mortality.

 

Emory University

Emory University partners with the CDC ERASE Maternal Mortality initiative to develop and operationalize a Community Vital Signs indicator dashboard that provides community and social-level contextual information for each case reviewed. Emory is also finalizing tools to help integrate community-level indicators into MMR abstraction and reviews, as well as a Recommendations Reference that will assist MMRCs in developing system-and community-level recommendations for prevention. MMRIA users will have access to a web-based portal for generating case-level dashboards by September 2022. The HHS Office of Minority Health has partnered with CDC’s ERASE Maternal Mortality Initiative in supporting this activity.

 

National Birth Equity Collaborative

The National Birth Equity Collaborative (NBEC) is partnering with CDC’s ERASE Maternal Mortality initiative to develop a guidance document for state-level MMRCs and Perinatal Quality Collaboratives to effectively collaborate together and with community-based organizations, for identifying and implementing equitable strategies for preventing pregnancy-related mortality and improving maternal health. This work will also describe MMRC identification of discrimination, including racism, as contributors to pregnancy-related deaths, based on MMRIA data. The results of this work are anticipated by August 2023. The HHS Office of Minority Health has partnered with CDC’s ERASE Maternal Mortality Initiative in supporting this activity.

 

National Indian Health Board

The National Indian Health Board (NIHB) is assisting Tribes and Tribal organizations to conceptualize and design Tribally led MMRCs in partnership with CDC’s ERASE Maternal Mortality initiative. For an MMRC to truly benefit Native populations, it must be led by Tribal stakeholders and guided by a respect for Tribal sovereignty and self-determination.