Competitive grant application for funding opportunity CDC-RFA-DP-24-0053 Enhancing Reviews and Surveillance to Eliminate Maternal Mortality - Maternal mortality is a national crisis with sobering statistics, and is associated with complex and multilayered factors. In 2021, the maternal mortality rate in the United States was 32.9 deaths per 100,000 live births. The year prior, the rate was 23.8. Also disturbing is the racial disparities. In 2021, the maternal mortality rate for non-Hispanic black women was 69.9 deaths per 100,000 live births, which was 2.6 times the rate for non-Hispanic white women. Maternal death is a public health issue that will continue to be addressed in Alabama if funding is provided to expand and strengthen the efforts that are already in place to reduce maternal mortality. Alabama, as the nation, has experienced an increase in the number of pregnancy-related deaths. In 2018-2020, Alabama had the third highest maternal mortality rate in the nation, at 36.2 per 100,000 live births. From 2016-2019, there were a total of 173 maternal deaths. Prior to 2018, Alabama did not have a process in place to collect data and review maternal deaths to determine contributing factors. In March 2018, the Alabama Maternal Mortality Review Program (AL-MMRP) was implemented. The goal of the program is to reduce the incidence of women of childbearing age dying because of the risks associated with and related to pregnancy. Information gathered will be used as a basis to strengthen communities, systems, and healthcare for Alabama women. The Alabama Department of Public Health (ADPH) proposes to continue and to expand the current maternal mortality review efforts so that previously unavailable data can be used for further public health monitoring, prevention, and intervention. By the end of the project period, Alabama will have: 1) improved availability, quality, and timeliness of Maternal Mortality Review Committee (MMRC) data, 2) improved multidisciplinary, population-level review of pregnancy-related deaths and documentation of recommendations for prevention, and 3) improved dissemination, access to, and employment of quality Maternal Mortality Review Information Application (MMRIA) data to drive opportunities for prevention. The AL-MMRP within the Bureau of Family Health Services (BFHS), Perinatal Health Division will continue its collaborate with The Center for Health Statistics (CHS) and the Maternal and Child Health (MCH) Epidemiology Branch within ADPH. The project director will oversee all aspects of the program including expansion, evaluation of staff, coordination of the MMRC, monitoring and reporting the progress of the project objectives to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and communicating with stakeholders to share recommendations into action. Three nurse abstractors will continue to abstract cases and enter information into MMRIA. An MCH epidemiologist and research analyst will perform data analysis to provide information to develop strategies that lead to prevention opportunities. The project will provide the opportunity for Alabama to expand efforts to improve maternal outcomes. Improving public, professional, and policymaker awareness of the MMRC recommendations and collaborating with implementation will ultimately reduce the number of maternal deaths in Alabama. Additionally, having the means to focus on the populations that are disproportionately affected by pregnancy-related death will result in decreased disparities in our state.
