The latest maternal health findings from 2023 March of Dimes report card

Contemporary OB/GYN:

Hi, I'm Celeste Krewson here with Dr. Cherot to discuss a new March of Dimes maternity health report. Would you like to introduce yourself?

Elizabeth Cherot, MD, FACOG:

Sure. So, I'm Dr. Elizabeth Cherot. I'm the CEO and President of March of Dimes.

Contemporary OB/GYN:

And to get started, what do you think are the most important findings in the 2023 March of Dimes report card?

Cherot:

Yeah. So, this is a report card that we put out on the state of maternal and infant health in the United States. I would say, one of the biggest striking things this year is that we haven't seen a great improvement from last year, it's actually flat, right? There's a slight improvement of 1%, but if you look at it, and you look visually at how we report preterm birth, the country is at a really low level, they actually get a D plus grade. And what that shows you is that 380,548 babies were born prematurely. And really, that indicates a really persistent problem that the report card is trying to amplify and to really focus on. And that essentially is the biggest headline, is that moms and babies are going in the wrong direction.

Contemporary OB/GYN:

Yeah, that is a really serious problem. Hopefully, more people find out about this soon. And were there any findings that surprised you?

Cherot:

I think it's fascinating that 14 states had decreased preterm birth. The 32, that had an increase, or slightly improved, were probably states that COVID, because if you think about this data being 2021, then I think about COVID and where it was affected kind of gives you a little bit more insight. But then surprising, but not so surprising, Celeste is when you look at our map and look at the southeast, that's really where you see all the red. And so that's where, you know, cities, as well as states are getting an F.

Contemporary OB/GYN:

I see, thank you. So, how will these findings impact clinicians going forward?

Cherot:

Well, listen, I hope people use the data because we're reporting on the vulnerability index, we're reporting on chronic conditions within states, you know, for moms, so you're just talking about hypertension, you're talking about, you know, increased weight, diabetes, smoking. But if you also each state, we actually have a story that's, you know, that is really kind of amplifying the data, or I said, amplifying the stories behind the data. If you look at this, this is where programs and corporations and government at the state level can start really aiming projects, especially across the footprint of their state, especially if you overlap it with our maternity care desert report, which is from August, with this report. It really gives you insight into where we need to be focused, but also where we need to amplify, because this is a time to really focus in on where we could make the differences.

Contemporary OB/GYN:

That all sounds very useful, for sure. We’re just about ready to wrap up, but is there anything you want to add first?

Cherot:

Yeah, I would say that preterm birth, when you look at it with racial disparities becomes shockingly, it become saddened, right? Because it's overlapped with maternal outcomes, because we know moms and babies are intertwined. So, preterm birth for black moms, Hispanic, as well as Alaskan and Native American are worse across the footprint. If we start focusing there will raise the tide for everyone. So, I encourage people to go to the report and really look at some of these disparities, because I think that is another thing that we are trying to highlight here. And when we look at the vulnerability index across the states, they're very, very different. So, there's lots of work to be done.

Contemporary OB/GYN:

Yeah, I agree, hopefully we see improvements in future reports.

Cherot:

You got it.

Contemporary OB/GYN:

Thank you for speaking with me today.

Cherot:

Absolutely, Celeste, you have a good day.