By 2030, reduce the global maternal mortality ratio to less than 70 per 100,000 live births

United States

Lay-Person Tasks

• If you know someone who is pregnant, ask if they need assistance getting access to healthcare, and follow through with assisting them. 

Action Tasks

• This is a list of what employers can do to reduce maternal mortality: https://hbr.org/2023/04/what-employers-can-do-to-make-childbirth-safer-in-the-u-s  

Informational Resources

• Maternity Care deserts: https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZT8UAA4x4/

CURRENT KNOWLEDGE

Books

• Battling Over Birth: Black Women and the Maternal Health Care Crisis. By Julia Chinyere Oparah (Author), Helen Arega (Author), Dantia Hudson (Author), Linda Jones (Author), Talita Oseguera (Author) This both explains the problem and offers solutions. ChatGPT a book summary. There’s a book review that says it give recommendations at the end of each chapter on what people can do.

Rules

• Roe V Wade https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1O_YHxd_HWQ 

• Abortion Policy https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bzuk13Ftxgo 

• Legislation to check the status of, says it hasn’t passed yet:

• MOMMA’s Act

• MOMMIES Act

• MOMs ACt

• Maternal CARE Act 

• This is based on an article from 2019 and does not have info from post Roe v. Wade. https://www.usnews.com/news/health-news/articles/2019-06-19/whats-being-done-to-fight-maternal-mortality-in-america 

• 60 million over 5 years to fund state maternal mortality review committees

• Preventing Maternal Deaths Act of 2018 creates uniform federal infrastructure for this data.  

• 13 states have a perinatal quality collaborative (they develop initiatives based on findings)

• The health resources and services administration addresses care in rural and underserved areas

Paradigms

• Maternal Mortality, originates with slavery https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FAPT8ywaCvA 

POTENTIAL SOLUTIONS

To-Do

• Find an online resource to share about giving birth without access to healthcare, for communities without healthcare access. Include resources that are accessible to people who are illiterate. 

Rules

• Policy agenda for Black Reproductive Justice https://blackrj.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/BlackRJPolicyAgenda.pdf 

• Out of all healthcare positions, abusive people are particularly attracted to maternity ward jobs. Ban abuse in the workplace and enforce that ban. 

• Create a protocol that supports maternal mortality. https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZTRTXAGWR/ 

Feedback Loops

• Use human rights witnesses and doulas to reduce the risk of medical abuse, neglect, malpractice, and sexual assault  during birth. Advocates have a similar role to human rights witnesses but have less power. 

Stock and Flow Structures

• Provide birthing kits to communities and expecting mothers that don’t have healthcare access

Numbers

• Reduce the healthcare costs of giving birth by restricting markup on essential life products and services.