Rates of maternal mortality are increasing across the nation, and non-Hispanic Black birthing people die at 2.6 times the rate of those who are white. In Maryland, racial disparities in maternal mortality continue to widen. In our state, the leading causes of pregnancy-related deaths in 2018 were non-cardiovascular conditions, cardiovascular conditions, and suicide, and 83% of the pregnancy-related deaths were judged to be preventable.
Through a grant from the Maryland Department of Health, the Maryland Patient Safety Center has partnered with an interdisciplinary and passionate advisory group to plan the inaugural Maryland Maternal Mortality Summit. The summit aims to bring together birth workers and other key stakeholders from across the state to learn, innovate, and collaborate around eliminating preventable maternal mortality and its associated disparities in care, access, and outcomes for birthing people.
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The spirit of an Ignite session is to educate, enlighten, and inspire the audience. Specifically, the purpose of this pre-conference session is to raise awareness of the great work related to Maternal and Child Health happening throughout the state of Maryland and to build connections in the space.