A brief for The Commonwealth Fund examines the maternal mortality crisis in the US. Reversing these trends will require a long-term commitment to redesigning maternal health care to reflect a “continuum approach” to help ensure that health is optimized before pregnancy and that high-quality care is delivered throughout pregnancy, birth, and an extended postpartum period. Furthermore, Medicaid covered 42 percent of all U.S. births in 2020 and must play a central role in any redesign of maternal health care delivery.
The report is authored by Sara Rosenbaum, Anne Rosier Markus, Caitlin Murphy, Rebecca Morris, Maria Casoni and Kay Johnson.