Improving Pregnancy Outcomes for African American Women | Health Equity Features

To reduce disparities, multiple sectors need to work to address the factors contributing to these deaths.

Healthcare providers can:

• Help patients manage chronic conditions like diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure and  obesity.
• Communicate with patients about warning signs.
• Use tools to flag warning signs early so women can receive timely treatment.

Hospitals and healthcare systems can:

• Identify and address unconscious bias in healthcare.
• Standardize coordination of care and response to emergencies.
• Improve delivery of quality prenatal and postpartum care.
• Train non-obstetric providers to consider recent pregnancy history.

States and communities can:

• Assess and coordinate delivery hospitals for risk-appropriate care.
• Support review of the causes behind every maternal death.

Women and their families:

• Know and communicate about symptoms of complications.
• Note pregnancy history any time medical care is received in the year after delivery.