Khadeja Haye, MD, MBA, FACOG, National Medical Director, OB/GYN, Specialty Services
The United States continues to face concerning maternal health outcomes. Approximately 700 pregnancy-related deaths occur in the U.S. each year, and for every maternal death there are an estimated 70 severe maternal morbidity events that are significant, often life-altering complications associated with pregnancy and childbirth.
While the maternal mortality rates in the United States were trending downward according to most recent CDC data, these outcomes are not evenly distributed. Maternal mortality rates among Black women are still greater than 3.5 times that than their White, Hispanic and Asian counterparts. National data also show that certain populations including individuals living in rural communities, those with limited access to consistent prenatal care, and patients with chronic medical conditions experience higher rates of maternal complications and mortality. Addressing these gaps requires a sustained focus on education, clinical preparedness, and care models that ensure every patient receives timely, evidence-based support throughout pregnancy and postpartum.
Many adverse outcomes are linked to gaps in health care delivery, inconsistencies in timely care, and variability in how clinical teams engage with pregnant individuals. Clinical guidance and recommendations from the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) highlight the need for improved education and training, both in how care is delivered and how future clinicians are prepared to support healthier pregnancies and births.
Why Education Matters in Maternal Health
Effective education, from medical school through residency and continuing professional development, builds clinicians’ ability to:
- Recognize and act on evolving evidence-based care standards
- Deliver prenatal and postpartum care that is structured, patient-centered, and tailored
- Understand how social, structural, and clinical factors influence maternal outcomes
Coordinate care effectively with interdisciplinary teams
Education also helps clinicians recognize patterns that contribute to maternal health disparities, including delays in accessing care, variations in community resources, and the impact of underlying health conditions such as hypertension, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease. Strengthening clinician awareness of these factors helps ensure patients receive timely, quality care.
Building Clinician Competencies That Improve Outcomes
Clinicians benefit from structured continuing education that keeps them current on protocols, risk assessment tools, and patient engagement strategies in this ever-evolving landscape of obstetric care.
Improved training also strengthens clinicians’ ability to identify patients who may face higher risk due to medical history, geographic barriers to care, or delayed access to prenatal services. Early recognition and proactive care planning can help reduce preventable complications.
Interdisciplinary Training and Team-Based Care
Maternal health outcomes are shaped by the coordination of care teams that include obstetricians, midwives, nurses, social workers, and other specialists. Simulation training programs should equip clinicians to function collaboratively and to communicate effectively across disciplines.
Team-based care is particularly important for patients managing complex pregnancies or chronic health conditions. Coordinated care models help ensure continuity between prenatal visits, hospital delivery, and postpartum follow-up, an area where many maternal complications occur.
Attention to Social and Structural Contexts
ACOG’s clinical guidance on social and structural determinants of health highlights how factors like transportation barriers, socioeconomic conditions, community resources, and availability of local maternity services influence a patient’s ability to engage in recommended care. In some regions of the United States, hospital obstetric unit closures and long travel distances to maternity care services can make routine prenatal visits more difficult.
Clinicians should be trained to recognize these factors, incorporate appropriate screening into practice, and connect patients with supportive resources that address barriers to care.
Education Is a Priority for Maternal Health
At TeamHealth, we have developed in-depth training courses designed to strengthen clinician awareness and competency in addressing disparities in obstetrical care. These required modules examine the historical and clinical factors that have contributed to inequities in maternal outcomes and provide a clear overview of current disparities, while emphasizing how care delivery models, communication, and individual practice patterns can influence patient experience and outcomes.
The goal is practical and patient-centered: to equip clinicians with the knowledge and self-awareness needed to provide consistent, quality care to every patient. Continued education reinforces accountability and strengthens our ability to deliver safe, evidence-based care across all populations. Our mission at TeamHealth is to deliver exceptional care during life’s pivotal moments. Our maternal health education programs position our providers to fulfill that mission.
This approach emphasizes the importance of education in providing quality, evidence-based, compassionate care, which improves maternal health outcomes for all patients.
