MATERNAL HEALTH

Understanding the maternal mortality issue

The United States has the highest maternal death rate in the developed world.  Detroit’s maternal death rate is three times the national average and pregnant black women are 4.5 times more likely to die than non-Hispanic white women and 44 percent of those pregnancy-related deaths were preventable.

Program Goal/Funders/Funding

SEMPQIC was created to work to reduce the disparity between Black and White adverse maternal, perinatal and infant outcomes, including infant and maternal mortality, by creating a coordinated, equitable and sustainable network for perinatal care based on best practices, evidence based and innovative community solutions that will result in system changes and improved birth outcomes for all babies born in southeast Michigan.

What we’re facing

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Detroit’s rates for Black maternal mortality are three times the national average. We’ve come to believe that pregnancy is routine, yet the risk to health can be significant. And these women leave behind partners, parents and most heartbreaking, other children. Public Health was been a focus in Michigan…the state has reduced its pregnancy-related mortality rate from 17.5 per 100,000 live births in 2011 to 14.1 per 100,000 in 2016.

Despite these advances, the Mother Infant Health & Equity Improvement Plan (MIHELP) 2022-2023 reports that Michigan women, infants, and their families continue to face deeply embedded systemic inequity, social biases, and related stressors that are closely associated with adverse health outcomes.

More often, African American women and infants are experiencing disparate outcomes. These systemic inequities result in disparities in both maternal and infant outcomes.

Our work in the community

Areas of Progress

Southeast Michigan Perinatal Quality Improvement Coalition has made many strides that is making a difference.

  • Our work on increasing the access to doulas in partnership with Black Mothers Breast Feeding, has uplifted doulas and increased awareness that doulas are an important resource that improves birth outcomes, especially for Black mothers.

  • SEMPQIC has been working with Michigan Health and Hospital Association to assure accountability of hospitals to improve the quality of their perinatal care through the Michigan Alliance for Innovation on Maternal Health program (MIAIM). We serve as the direct contact to the 23 birthing hospitals in Region 10, to assist, encourage and assure that the hospitals participate in MIAIM and commit to reducing maternal morbidity and mortality in their hospitals.

  • Notably, we have trained over 300 participants through our Implicit Bias and Equity training.

  • Impactful outreach on COVID vaccine alerting moms-t0-be with reminders to get their vaccination shots.

    All of these initiatives have the input of our network that includes parents, community-based organizations, health systems, health plans, fathers, physicians, the faith-based community and universities.