New center takes aim at high-risk pregnancies and maternal mortality

Infant mortality in the U.S. remains a problem – 23,000 babies died in 2014 – but the numbers decline every year and currently are the lowest in history, mostly thanks to an aggressive public health campaign to reduce pre-term births.  The death trend among mothers, however, is going in the other direction – up by more than half since 2000.

The Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology & Reproductive Sciences at McGovern Medical School is a partner in the Children’s Memorial Hermann mother-and-baby safety program. The program is expanding thanks to several grants and will create the March of Dimes Perinatal Safety Center at the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, tasked with developing a blueprint to improve infant and maternal mortality rates that can be implemented at hospitals nationwide.

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