A new state law hopes to reduce the number of Michigan mothers who die during or within one year of childbirth by mandating the reporting of maternal deaths.
The new law, passed Jan. 5, goes into effect April 6 through the Michigan Maternal Mortality Surveillance project within the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services.
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Globally, maternal deaths are becoming less common, though the United States has gone in the other direction in recent years. The maternal death rate increased in the U.S. from 2005 to 2013, according to a research group based at the University of Washington.
Michigan reported 86 maternal deaths in 2010, the fifth most in the nation. Detroit reported a materal death rate three-times the national average from 2008-11.
As a public health authority, MDHHS investigates maternal deaths to better understand underlying factors associated with these deaths and to develop policy recommendations that can help improve the maternal mortality rate, according to a press release from the state agency. (Read MDHHS letter to health care providers explaining the new requirement.)
Public Act 479 of 2016 was signed into law earlier this year making maternal death reporting a mandatory process in an effort to capture all maternal deaths that occur in our state. The new law states that a physician or an individual in charge of a health facility who is present for or is aware of a maternal death must submit information regarding that death at the time and in the manner specified or approved by the department for inclusion in the health information system.
Over the past several decades, the MMMS project has investigated all maternal deaths that occur in Michigan on an annual basis. However, prior to this legislation, participation was voluntary.
The participation of physicians and health facilities is vital for public health surveillance and helps promote and protect the health and well-being of women, infants, and families in Michigan. Additional information on maternal death reporting, including instructions and forms, can be found on the MDHHS
Maternal and Child Health Epidemiology website at www.michigan.gov/mchepi.