Maryland Patient Safety Center Awards B.I.R.T.H. Equity Maryland Designation to Mercy

The Maryland Patient Safety Center (MPSC) has awarded Mercy Medical Center with the B.I.R.T.H. Equity Maryland designation, signifying completion of the B.I.R.T.H. Equity Maryland: Breaking Inequality Reimagining Transformative Healthcare program. This state-wide improvement project was designed by MPSC in partnership with the Maryland Hospital Association (MHA), along with an advisory group of local experts in the fields of maternal health, emergency medicine, family practice, community health and health equity, with the intent to engage non-obstetric providers on the critical need for knowledge of pregnancy-related complications and awareness of disparities in negative maternal outcomes.

According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), non-Hispanic Black women are three to four times more likely to die from pregnancy related complications as compared with non-Hispanic White women even when adjusting for sociodemographic and reproductive factors. Systemic racism, bias, and discrimination are key drivers of these disparities in outcomes.

Recent data from the CDC (2022) has shown that 80 percent of pregnancy related deaths are preventable, of which 53 percent occur in the postpartum period. Pregnant and postpartum are often seen in primary care offices, clinics, emergency departments or other community health settings where their obstetric history and early symptoms may be underappreciated. Engaging non-obstetric providers to recognize and address early warning signs and identify and mitigate their biases will amplify the current implicit bias trainings and expansion of perinatal and post-partum resources across the state of Maryland.

"We applaud Mercy for completing the B.I.R.T.H. Equity Maryland training and taking the necessary steps to empower the patient voice at all levels of care," said Dr. Blair Eig, President and CEO of the Maryland Patient Safety Center. "Aiding non-obstetric providers in identifying pregnancy-related complications that may otherwise go undetected will positively impact so many families in their community."

"Mercy is committed to improving birth equity. This designation is indicative of our ongoing efforts to ensure equitable access to healthcare for all families in our community, and reaffirms Mercy's dedication to eliminating disparities in maternal and infant health outcomes," said Robert O. Atlas, M.D., Chair of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Mercy and a key leader within Mercy's Family Childbirth and Children's Center.

To earn the B.I.R.T.H. Equity Maryland designation, at least 80 percent of the Mercy team completed learning around warning signs of obstetric complications, leveraging teamwork and communication strategies, identifying and mitigating biases through training and reflection, and worked to create systems to support safe care for birthing people.

"We are thrilled to be leading this important initiative to increase awareness of disparities in maternal outcomes and the impact of racism and bias on maternal health. Our aim is to support the creation of systems of safer care," said Dr. Adriane Burgess, Director of Perinatal and Neonatal Quality and Patient Safety at MPSC. "The United States has the highest rate of maternal mortality of all industrialized countries we know it will take innovative approaches and a collective determination across the entire health care continuum to reverse this trend. Thank you to Mercy for their commitment to moving Maryland forward and keeping patients safe."