PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Birth Justice Philly and the Philadelphia Department of Public Health have released a report that provides new insights into maternal health outcomes in the city.
The report, “Severe Maternal Morbidity in Philadelphia,” looks at data from 2016 through 2022 to examine and understand severe maternal morbidity — that is, unexpected outcomes of labor and delivery that result in significant short- and long-term health consequences for the baby and the mother.
Severe maternal morbidity affects African Americans at a higher rate than other racial and ethnic groups. Risk factors include obesity, a history of diabetes, high blood pressure or being of advanced maternal age, says Asta Mehta, director of maternal, child and family health for the Health Department.
Between 2016 and 2022, there were over 1,200 severe maternal morbidity cases in Philadelphia. People under the age of 20 or over the age of 35 had higher rates of SMM compared to those in their 20s and early 30s.
Mehta says many SMM cases may be preventable: “So it's important to really kind of get to the root cause to see if there are safety and quality things ... ones that we can implement, not just at the hospital level, but also in prenatal care, in preconception care.”
The goal is to find the root causes by doing independent data-gathering, which began last year, when Birth Justice Philly launched the nation's first SMM surveillance program.
“We worked with all the Philadelphia hospitals,” said Mehta. “We've developed a system so that they can report all of the cases to us directly so we can get a better, more comprehensive understanding of this problem, and it's more in real time.”
She says the data show the most common cause of SMM is acute renal failure, which can be led by severe blood loss, hypertension or preeclampsia complications, and underscores the need for pre-natal testing and care.
Mehta says the city has a public health campaign in effect to empower those who may have symptoms of post birth complications to seek care early.
“We also have an educational program that is free of charge,” she said. “And really it's focused on the people surrounding that birthing person to help share their knowledge of ... what are these complications?”
According to the report, annual SMM cases in Philadelphia decreased and then stabilized from 2014 to 2018, but the city has since seen an uptick in cases, which is consistent with national data.