January 23, 2024 is Maternal Health Awareness day; a day to raise awareness about the importance of maternal health care and stress the urgency of this country’s devastating maternal mortality crisis. It is of the utmost importance that we work together towards reversing some disturbing trends.

According to a 2022 March of Dimes report, over one-third of U.S. counties are considered to be maternal healthcare deserts. A maternal healthcare desert is any U.S. county where there are no hospitals or birthing centers offering obstetric care and no obstetric providers. American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) has stated that about 700 women in the United States die yearly because of pregnancy-related causes and non-Hispanic Black and American Indian/Alaska Native women have the highest rates of pregnancy-related deaths. Furthermore, one in three of the pregnancy-related deaths happen one week to one year after delivery.

We know that the health and well-being of newborns is directly affected by the health and well-being of mothers. Pediatricians can help reverse these trends by checking-in with mothers at every office visit; especially in those critical first 12 months after delivery. Mothers and family members are strongly encouraged to use us as a resource by checking-in with your pediatric clinician. We are here for you. We are committed to help eliminate preventable maternal mortality and in order to do this, we must all work together to support mothers in every area of medicine, so we can reverse this country’s catastrophic maternal mortality crisis.

This blog was written by Rebecca Lowen, NP from Pediatric Associates’ Boca Raton office