PHILADELPHIA — The Philadelphia Department of Public Health and Birth Justice Philly has released a new report, “Severe Maternal Morbidity in Philadelphia, 2016-2022,” that provides new insights into maternal health outcomes in the City, focusing on critical complications related to birth. Severe Maternal Morbidity (SMM) refers to unexpected outcomes of labor and delivery that result in significant short- and long-term health consequences. This newly released report presents trends in delivery hospitalizations involving SMM in Philadelphia from 2016-2022 based on data from the Pennsylvania Health Care Cost Containment Council (PHC4) and is an update to a previous report, “Severe Maternal Morbidity in Philadelphia, 2011-2014.”

Birth Justice Philly recently launched the nation’s first active severe maternal morbidity surveillance program, which began collecting real-time data from Philadelphia Labor & Delivery hospitals. This program will play a critical role in identifying and understanding SMM trends within Philadelphia’s hospitals, using hospital-level clinical data for in-depth analysis. It’s a proactive system for identifying SMM cases, offering valuable insights for public health improvements, and pinpointing opportunities for targeted interventions.

“Investigating severe maternal morbidity events in Philadelphia significantly enhances our understanding of maternal health challenges,” said Aasta D. Mehta, MD, MPP, Director of the Division of Maternal, Child, and Family Health at the Philadelphia Department of Public Health. “And it provides critical insights into preventing these complications in the future.”

Key findings from the report include:

• Between 2016 and 2022, there were 1,247 cases of severe maternal morbidity identified among Philadelphia birthing people, which is an average of 178 cases per year.
• People under the age of 20 or over the age of 35 had higher rates of severe maternal morbidity compared to those in their 20s and early 30s.
• Non-Hispanic Black birthing people had a higher rate of severe maternal morbidity compared to other racial and ethnic groups.

Since 2018, Philadelphia has experienced an upward trend in cases of severe maternal morbidity, which is consistent with national data. The reasons for these rising rates are not fully understood, but it is likely that increases in preexisting conditions like hypertension, diabetes, and obesity, as well as higher average maternal age, all play a role.

The Health Department’s Division of Maternal, Child, and Family Health has several initiatives that address the upstream causes of maternal morbidity and mortality. The Philly Joy Bank pilot provides 250 pregnant Philadelphians with $1,000 per month from the second trimester of pregnancy through one year after birth. Families will also be offered voluntary assistance including financial counseling, home visits, doula help, and lactation support. Additionally, the Health Department recently launched a public health campaign on early warning signs of post-birth complications.