ATLANTA — A new state report is giving us the latest look at Georgia's maternal health crisis, as well as outlines for how the state plans to address it.
11Alive's Liza Lucas obtained the Georgia Department of Public Health report, which provides an overview of maternal deaths in Georgia, their cause and how they can be combatted.
The numbers in the report cover 2018-2020, marking the first report since the pandemic, and includes 113 pregnancy-related deaths. The CDC defines a pregnancy-related death as a death while pregnant or within one year of the end of pregnancy from any cause related to or aggravated by the pregnancy.
In Georgia, disparities among races in maternal mortality - in particular for Black mothers - continue to be stark.
Of the deaths accounted for in the report:
- 56% were Black women
- 34% were white women
- 7% were Latino or Hispanic women
According to the report, the six leading causes of death include hemorrhage, mental health conditions, cardiomyopathy, cardiovascular and coronary conditions, embolism, preeclampsia and eclampsia. The report confirms a previously-reported statistic, which is that Black women are two times more likely to die from pregnancy-related causes in Georgia than other demographics.
Cardiac-related deaths are the leading driver of that disparity, Katie Kopp, senior manager in the Office of Women's Health at the Georgia Department of Public Health, explained to 11Alive.
"Those accounted for about 25% of all of our pregnancy-related deaths and are two leading causes of death among non Hispanic black women," Kopp said. "Those are causes of death that we need to target to achieve equity in our outcomes for Black women in the state."
Maternal health and equity has been an ongoing issue in Georgia. In conversations with public health officials, they pointed out this was the first report where families were also interviewed - providing new information on contributing factors like mental health, discrimination and bias.
That perspective offers key insight that goes beyond a medical report, Dr. Natalie Hernandez of Morehouse School of Medicine, told 11Alive prior to the report's release.
"You can go through a medical abstraction and read and see all these clinical terms," Hernandez said. "When we hear from the families on those non-clinical causes on what was happening, the situation that that person was going through. You can see how things escalated or led to what happened at the end."
And, the report states, 89% of these deaths could have been prevented.
"I think that's one thing that should stand out in this report is that there are so many opportunities for prevention at so many different levels," Kopp said.
Georgia continues its work in tackling the crisis. In the 2021-2022 legislative session, lawmakers signed off on a plan to extend Medicaid coverage for new moms in Georgia, increasing coverage up to one year postpartum. In addition, the report highlights the following:
- $1,180,000 allocated in the FY23 budget to pilot two maternal
quality improvement initiatives with Augusta University to increase
resources for cardiac and hypertensive care and follow-up during
pregnancy and postpartum.
- $1,047,540 was allocated in FY 2019 to increase provider access to
maternal mental health training and treatment resources.
- Perinatal Level of Care Designation legislation was enacted in FY 2018
and $150,000 in funding was allocated for implementation in FY 2019.
- $200,000 was allocated in FY 2019 to provide additional abstractors for
maternal mortality review, needed resources to bring the case review
current.
- $2,000,000 was allocated in FY 2018 for maternal mortality prevention.
The funding provides support for rural hospitals to implement maternal
quality improvement initiatives
On July 1, the Healthy Babies Act also took effect, authorizing the Department of Public Health to conduct a pilot program that will provide visits to at-risk and underserved rural communities during pregnancy and early childhood.
The pilot program aims to bring care and public health staff into the lives of families.
“The pilot that we're going to launch this summer will provide us an opportunity to do more frequent assessments,” she said. “Catch things like high blood pressure, any concerns with the baby… swelling during pregnancy, any of those kind of maternal warning signs.”
The program will also follow mothers through postpartum, a period in which the the majority of maternal deaths occur. But Hernandez points out the overall investment and coordination in women's health that's needed, in order to prevent both maternal deaths and pregnancy-related complications.
For every maternal death, there are the 'near-misses,' the 50 to 60,000 women who suffer from maternal complications, Hernandez said. The report with its recommendations, she hopes, will also offer some hope.
"This is how we're going to step it up and ensure that no other woman has to die from what should be the most wonderful experience of their life," she added.
The report advises not comparing previous years, because the methodology for reporting has changed, but the 113 pregnancy-related deaths listed for 2018-2020 is an increase over previous reporting.
11Alive is continuing to look through the report in full.
This is a developing story. Check back often for new information.
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