Sentara Norfolk General Hospital and community partners discuss maternal health

The acting regional director for the federal Department of Health & Human Services offered a sobering statistic on maternal death at a recent meeting of Sentara leaders and community partner organizations.

“The U.S. ranks last in the world in maternal death,” said Melissa Herd in her opening remarks.

“Norway has zero maternal deaths per 100,000 births, while the U.S. has 22. If you look at women of color, that number rises to 50 deaths per 100,000 births, and we can do better.”

The meeting at Sentara Norfolk General Hospital focused on the hospital’s efforts to prevent maternal deaths. Its Family Maternity Center works with many high-risk pregnancies arising from medical complications such as hypertension, diabetes, heart disease, and obesity.

“We’re thinking outside the box to reach these women where they are,” said Sue Mitchell, director of women’s services at Sentara Norfolk General Hospital. “Some women find it difficult to keep up with prenatal care, so we’re taking care to them.”

Other topics at the meeting included mental health, substance abuse, English proficiency and communication, and how to reach fathers to ensure they remain engaged in their children’s lives.

“If we can come through a pandemic, we can do something about maternal death,” said Herd. “We want to come alongside community partners like yours and do what we can to assist, not take over, but assist. Our families and our babies deserve it.”

Sentara Norfolk General Hospital partners with the following agencies and programs to help women survive before and after giving birth:

• Welcoming Baby and Watch Me Grow: These programs, offered through Sentara Health Plans, focus on moms on Medicaid. They are high-touch efforts to ensure proper prenatal care, full-term deliveries, and active monitoring of the development of newborns during their first year of life.

• Bedside WIC registration: Sentara Norfolk General Hospital established a unique partnership with the Norfolk Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) office to provide bedside registration for new moms before they are discharged. They leave the hospital with a WIC card in hand. This innovative approach removes barriers of transportation and paperwork for new moms.

• CHIP: The Children’s Health Investment Program offers Moms Matter, a program for new moms with hypertension. The program provides blood pressure cuffs, medication, and a year of home nursing visits. Two hundred and forty-five moms enrolled in the first year and most stayed engaged. One hundred and eighty-seven moms were connected with primary care providers to manage their health.

• Urban Baby Beginnings: This program encourages the use of doulas in preparing moms for birth and provides necessary supplies and information on community resources when new moms go home.