Maternal health and safety

Prioritizing maternal health in Massachusetts

The Betsy Lehman Center partners with the Department of Public Health, MassHealth, patients, and other members of the health care community to forge solutions to disturbing trends in maternal health, particularly racial disparities in outcomes.

The Center is a member of the state’s Maternal Health Task Force, which is developing a maternal health strategic plan that is racial equity- and healing-centered. The Center also serves as the data custodian for the Perinatal-Neonatal Quality Improvement Network of Massachusetts (PNQIN), collecting and analyzing metrics on severe maternal morbidity, statewide levels of care, and safety bundles for the Alliance for Innovation on Maternal Health (AIM).

Safety bundles

Birthing hospitals use evidence-based toolkits to improve safety outcomes and reduce disparities in care. Topics include opioid use disorder, obstetric hemorrhage, severe hypertension and more.

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Morbidity data

The Center leads an effort to bring timely severe maternal morbidity data to maternal health providers in the Commonwealth, so they can identify cases in a timely manner for quality improvement.

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Levels of care

Levels of Care Assessment Tool (LOCATe) is used to better match families' care needs with hospitals' resources and personnel based on risk for complications.

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