The Shadow
RICHMOND, VA – Today, Governor Glenn Youngkin announced the launch of an upgraded Maternal and Child Health (MCH) Dashboard and two new dashboards to monitor and provide actionable data on maternal mortality and pregnancy-associated deaths. The data are designed to be used as a resource to establish best practices to assist mothers during pregnancy, birth, and postpartum. This is a part of the Administration’s ongoing effort to support Virginia moms and improve maternal health outcomes.
“More moms are alive today because of the unprecedented work of the Virginia Department of Health, the Virginia Department of Medical Assistance Services, health care providers and community partners,” stated Governor Glenn Youngkin. “Today’s launch is another key step to provide the data needed for this all-hands-on-deck mission. We are making significant strides, but we will not stop working until every baby in Virginia is born to a healthy mom.”
Preliminary data from the Virginia Department of Health (VDH) indicate positive results. Maternal mortality counts in 2023 and 2024 are half of what they were at their height in 2021, where 47 deaths were reported out of over 95,000 births.
“Pregnancy and new motherhood should be a sacred time in the life of a mom and her baby. Last year, for more than 20 women and their families, it was a time of tragedy and loss,” stated Secretary Janet V. Kelly. “With accurate, actionable data we can help providers all across the Commonwealth do more to support healthy babies and healthy mothers and prevent these tragedies in the future.”
“For too many women, mental health, cardiac disease and other chronic diseases create difficulties during pregnancy that can lead to death,” said State Health Commissioner Karen Shelton, MD. “As an OB-GYN, I am grateful for the collaborative effort that has already saved lives and believe the new Maternal and Child Health dashboards will improve transparency, ensure data-driven decision-making and help us achieve even better results in the years ahead.”
The dashboard enhancements are in response to Governor Glenn Youngkin’s Executive Directive Eleven, issued last December as part of an initiative to strengthen maternal health in the Commonwealth by improving data, expanding access to high-quality care, and increasing awareness. Executive Directive 11 built on the work done by Executive Order 32, which reestablished the Task Force on Maternal Health Data and Quality Measures last June.
The MCH dashboard displays metrics on preterm births, birthweight, infant mortality, prenatal care, and maternal smoking, and is sortable by year, region, health district, locality, and race/ethnicity. One new dashboard focuses on maternal mortality, using data from the Office of Vital Records. The second new dashboard displays statistics related to pregnancy-associated deaths. Both dashboards present data in five-year groupings and display statistics by selected demographic groups.
Virginia’s overall rates of low birthweight and premature births are comparable to national averages; but important differences persist across regions and demographic groups. The enhanced dashboards help to reduce these disparities by providing actionable data sortable by region, race, and ethnicity.
The dashboards are managed by the Division of Population Health Data within VDH’s Office of Family Health Services. The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner and the Office of Information Management collaborated with the Office of Family Health Services in the development of the Pregnancy-Associated Death dashboard.
The dashboards are being released as Virginia observes Black Maternal Health Week. The observance is designed to raise awareness and promote action to improve Black maternal health outcomes, focusing on the racial disparities in maternal health and the experiences of Black mothers.
