Missouri health department launches new dashboard to track maternal deaths statewide
On average, 61 women die each year from pregnancy or within a year of pregnancy in Missouri, according to the state’s health department.
Now, a statewide, interactive dashboard will help make maternal mortality data more accessible to the public, according to the Missouri Department of Health & Senior Services, which said the dashboard is the first of its kind.
The data is collected through the health department’s Pregnancy-Associated Mortality Review program.
“DHSS and the PAMR Board are looking to help ease what should be a joyful journey from becoming one of grief and loss,” Paula Nickelson, acting director for DHSS, said in a news release.
The United States has the highest maternal mortality rate among developed countries in the world, and it’s getting worse.
Missouri currently ranks 12th worst in the US for maternal mortality. A recent CDC report released this fall showed that 80% of pregnancy-related deaths are preventable. Black mothers insured by Medicaid are about two times more likely than white women on Medicaid to become cases of severe maternal morbidity, the CDC says.
“Focusing on increasing awareness of new mothers’ needs and providing postpartum care are a few factors that can impact another new mother from becoming a mortality statistic,” Nickelson said. “With the dashboard, DHSS is hoping to further awareness, discussions and the need to improve obtainable resources for mothers to prevent these tragic deaths.”
The dashboard currently includes data from 2017 through 2019 collected by the state’s maternal mortality review committee, which tries to gather and understand the context and causes of deaths during or within a year of pregnancy.
So far, it’s been determined the two most common causes of pregnancy-related deaths in Missouri over the three-year time-span are mental health conditions and cardiovascular disease, according to the dashboard.
The majority of the 185 deaths between 2017 and 2019 happened between 43 days and one year postpartum.
More resources for women across the state, including pregnancy assistance, can be found at health.mo.gov/living/families/womenshealth/.
