Presented By:  Elliott Main, MD

In 2006, noting a rise in maternal deaths and complications, the California Department of Public Health launched efforts to investigate maternal deaths. In that year, the California Maternal Quality Care Collaborative was formed as a public-private partnership to lead maternal quality improvement activities. Key steps undertaken over the next decade included linking public health surveillance to actions, mobilizing a broad range of public and private partners, developing a rapid-cycle Maternal Data Center to support and sustain quality improvement initiatives, and implementing a series of data-driven large-scale quality improvement projects. While US maternal mortality has worsened in the 2010s, by 2013 California’s rate had been cut in half to a three-year average of 7.0 maternal deaths per 100,000 live births. The state’s rate had become comparable to the average rate in Western Europe (7.2 per 100,000). Dr. Main will cover the key steps undertaken by the California Department of Public Health and the California Maternal Quality Care Collaborative that supported change on such a large scale.

Desired Outcomes:

• Identify the significant gaps in maternity outcomes.
• Examine the racial and ethnic gaps in maternity outcomes.
• Prepare for your role as physicians in OB Quality/Performance Improvement projects.

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