Meritus strives to ensure all patients, regardless of ethnicity, race, gender or socioeconomic status receive high-quality, equitable care.
The health system has been sharing its efforts publicly with the community it serves through its annual Health Equity report, as well as by working to engage community members in important health initiatives.
As one component of this important work, Meritus Medical Center worked to integrate the B.I.R.T.H. Equity Maryland program, a state-wide improvement project to reduce inequities faced by pregnant women. The hospital has successfully implemented this and recently received the B.I.R.T.H. Equity Maryland designation from the Maryland Patient Safety Center (MPSC). B.I.R.T.H. stands for Breaking Inequality Reimagining Transformative Healthcare program.
The program works to engage non-obstetric providers on the critical need for knowledge of pregnancy-related complications and awareness of disparities in negative maternal outcomes.
“It is vital that we do everything possible to ensure healthy outcomes for pregnant women, especially those who are at higher risk of developing life-threatening complications,” said Meritus Medical Center Chief Operating Officer Carrie Adams, Pharm.D. “Our teams are committed to ensuring all patients who trust us with their care are experiencing the best possible outcomes.”
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), non-Hispanic Black women are three to four times more likely to die from pregnancy-related complications as compared with non-Hispanic White women, even when adjusting for sociodemographic and reproductive factors.
Systemic racism, bias, and discrimination are key drivers of these disparities in outcomes. Recent data from the CDC (2022) has shown that 80 percent of pregnancy-related deaths are preventable, of which 53 percent occur in the postpartum period. Pregnant and postpartum patients are often seen in primary care offices, clinics, emergency departments or other community health settings where their obstetric history and early symptoms may be underappreciated.
The B.I.R.T.H. Equity program teaches participants to recognize signs of severe maternal morbidity and mortality, implement improvements in protocols, identify whether or how potential bias might play a part in care, and have tools to effectively communicate concerns for a patient’s wellbeing.
To earn the B.I.R.T.H. Equity Maryland designation, at least 80 percent of the Meritus Medical Center team completed six steps of demonstrated learning and development which included recognizing early warning signs of obstetric complications, leveraging teamwork and communication strategies, identifying and mitigating biases through training and reflection, and creating systems which support safe care for birthing people.
