In order to overcome the steadily increasing maternal mortality rate in Georgia, efforts are being made to collect and comprehensively analyze maternal mortality data. In a 2010 Amnesty International report, Georgia was the US state with the worst maternal mortality (Thomas and Gusman 2018). It may indicate systemic problems, such as poor quality of medical care and social challenges. Georgia Department of Public Health claims that in the United States, the number of registered maternal deaths related to pregnancy is growing in both white women and representatives of minority groups (n.d). These studies have led to the need for the collaboration of the Georgia Department of Public Health and the Georgia Maternal Mortality Review Committee (MMRC). Together the organizations could monitor the women’s health condition during pregnancy and reduce the risks of complications of black mothers.
The Committee includes 36 representatives who hold periodic meetings to discuss the issue of maternal mortality. Co-chair representatives Sharon Cooper and Mark Newton hold regular meetings to identify the medical and non-medical issues and possible measures to address the problems or reduce the risk of death (Boockholdt 2019). Mortality data is collected for an annual report reflecting the frequency of deaths caused mainly by socio-demographic factors. Starting in 2017, the General Assembly began funding initiatives to overcome the maternal mortality crisis. In the fiscal year 2018 budget, $100,000 was allocated to evaluate and recommend a program to reduce maternal mortality using research (Boockholdt 2019). This is a prominent step on the way to allocating a budget to overcome maternal mortality in Georgia.
The ultimate purpose of the Committee is to reduce the number of maternal deaths in Georgia with the help of research conducted and statistics collected. The way to achieve this goal is to improve the quality of maternity care and ensure access to it by any social group. The Committee is operating to understand the causes of maternal mortality in Georgia, raise awareness of the problems associated with pregnancy-related deaths, and promote changes in systems, communities, and individuals (Georgia Department of Public Health n.d.). Following these purposes invariably leads to better health indicators and reduces preventable mortality associated with pregnancy.
The Committee’s history began long before its appearance in the state of Georgia, back in the early 20th century, when the mortality rates were the highest in the entire history of observations. Since the 1930s, maternal mortality review committees have been established at the State and local levels to address this problem (Pierre et al. 2019). At that time, some specific deaths were analyzed in order to understand what caused them and develop a plan of assistance for subsequent incidents. The structure is based on conducting comprehensive, interdisciplinary reviews, in which the committee members had to have the necessary tools. It includes relevant experience, access to data, the possibility of a confidential investigation, and consideration of the details of the case. Even though the problem of mortality among African-American women was initially not separated, the competence of the committees began to expand and spread to other states.
In Georgia State, the Committee’s program aims to address maternal deaths that occur directly during childbirth or within a year after. It reviews each case separately to determine the relation with complications during childbirth, causes, and factors and recommends measures to reduce mortality in the future. This multidisciplinary Committee consists of doctors, nurses, public health workers, and epidemiologists who actively help mothers, including mothers of minority groups. The Law of Georgia grants the Committee the authority to collect data to consider maternal deaths, which would help to ensure the confidentiality of cases and the legal protection of committee members (Georgia Department of Public Health n.d.). The Committee’s program also significantly helps the mental stability of mothers who feel safe in Georgia hospitals.
The main success of the Committee’s work is that, as of 2022, women in Georgia have equal access to healthcare and medical treatment before, during, and after pregnancy to exclude all preventable causes of maternal mortality. This helps reduce the percentage of deaths among members of the minority groups and improves the overall medical provision of the state (Georgia Department of Public Health n.d.). Despite the overall success of the Committee, it regularly faces the challenge of providing resources and technical assistance. It happens due to the interstate work of the Committee, which has to meet varying needs and sometimes to accommodate personal cases. Despite the fact that Georgia is actively overcoming maternal mortality, it still remains at the bottom of the safety rating due to long-term ignoring of the problem.
Thus, the Georgia Maternal Mortality Review Committee sets its direct task to ensure safe childbirth for women, which directly correlates with the safety of labor and delivery for representatives of minority groups. Since the mortality rate among black women has been extremely high recently, the Committee’s work in current conditions will be more related to providing conditions for childbirth to this social group. As a result, the death rate will decrease among African-American women in Georgia.
References
Boockholdt, Tara. House of Representatives Study Committee on Maternal Mortality. 2019. House Budget and Research Office.
Boockholdt, Tara. Maternal Mortality in Georgia. 2019. House Budget and Research Office.
Maternal Mortality. n.d. Georgia Department of Public Health.
Pierre, Amy St., Julie Zaharatos, David Goodman and William M. Callaghan. “Challenges and Opportunities in Identifying, Reviewing, and Preventing Maternal Deaths.”Obstetrics and Gynecology. 2019. 131 (1): 138-142.
Thomas, Krysten, and Nicole Gusman. “When the State Fails: Maternal Mortality and Racial Disparity in Georgia.” American Public Health Association. 2018.