Call to Action: Maternal Health and Saving Mothers
Published: September 08, 2021
- Maternal mortality is alarmingly high at about 700 deaths a year in the United States, with cardiovascular disease (CVD) being the leading cause of pregnancy-related death.
- AHA recommends a multi-pronged approach to help reduce US maternal mortality rates, including: improving health literacy and public awareness on preconception care; achieving cultural competency and bias reduction among providers; mitigating the impact of social and structural determinants of health; transforming payment and promoting value-based care; modernizing healthcare delivery infrastructure and expanding care-coordination; improving public health infrastructure and digitally enabled healthcare; improving quality reporting of maternal outcomes and health metrics; and expanding access to quality postpartum care.
- AHA is committed to leveraging advocacy efforts and working with strategic partners to develop sustainable and impactful solutions for preventing maternal death and ensuring all individuals experiencing pregnancy can live healthy lives before, during, and after giving birth.