Pregnancy, delivery and birth are stressful times for soon-to-be moms, but knowing you’ll have support when in the hospital can help alleviate some of the fear.
Virtua Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital is one of 26 hospitals nationwide recognized by U.S. News & World Report as high-performing in maternity care, specifically for success in supporting Black maternal health. The Camden hospital is the only acute care facility in Greater Philadelphia to receive this distinction.
“This recognition is extremely meaningful to our colleagues,” said Nicole Lamborne, MD, Virtua’s vice president of clinical operations for women’s health and a practicing OB/GYN physician. “We believe that all people are deserving of compassionate, individualized care, and therefore we must dedicate ourselves to being champions for health equity and providing our Black patients with outstanding experiences and clinical excellence.”
To earn this recognition, hospitals must serve at least 20 Black maternity patients per year and have newborn complication rates of less than 2.62 percent and C-section rates of less than 23.9 percent (among hospitals providing a higher level of care) or 23.6 percent (among hospitals not providing a higher level of care) among Black patients.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), there are many factors that contribute to the wide disparity of maternal deaths by race, including variations in quality health care, underlying chronic conditions, structural racism, and implicit bias. Social determinants of health prevent many people from racial and ethnic minority groups from having fair opportunities for economic, physical, and emotional health.
Black Maternal Health Week was founded seven years ago by Black Mamas Matter Alliance and is held every April as part of National Minority Health Month. This year, Black Maternal Health Week is April 11-17, and calls attention to the maternal mortality rate for Black women in the United States, which is two to three times the rate of women of other races and ethnic groups.
Virtua Health, South Jersey’s largest not-for-profit health system, is committed to advancing health equity for all patients and creating safe and welcoming spaces for parents and babies. Virtua delivers over 9,000 babies a year at its three hospitals providing maternity care and its freestanding Midwifery Birth & Wellness Center.
Virtua was among the first health systems in the state to introduce the TeamBirth NJ care model, a structured method to foster better communication through shared decision-making between the clinical team and the person giving birth, which will be launched at Virtua Our Lady of Lourdes in September.
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