CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCSC) – The Medical University of South Carolina has launched a new program to tackle the death rate in new mothers.
The Palmetto State has the eighth-highest maternal mortality rate in the country, according to the Department of Public Health. The data shows that out of the pregnant women who die in the state, more than half die after giving birth.
While the data in the 2024 legislative brief shows the number of deaths dropped by 16%, from nearly 39% per 100,000 live births in 2019 to just over 32% in 2020, racial disparities increased: Black women were four times more likely to die than white women. More than 69% of Black women died in 2020, compared with nearly 62% in 2019.
MUSC’s H.E.A.R. 4 Mamas, with the “H.E.A.R.” standing for healing, equity, advocacy and respect, is a text-based program designed to work alongside primary care visits. It allows mothers to get medical care ahead of postpartum complications.
Dr. Connie Guille, the director of MUSC’s Women’s Reproductive and Behavior Health Division, is the primary investigator. She says the texts are 15-question surveys to recognize symptoms like headaches, swelling or depression.
Guille says 400 women have already taken part.
“It asks every single question you would want to ask a postpartum woman during this time,” Guille says. “There’s about 15 questions and there’s these early warning sign symptoms that we want people to be aware of. So everyday, they’re looking at those questions and they just hit submit if they don’t have any concerns. But if they do have a concern, they just respond, ‘yes’ to that and then that would notify us to reach out to them.”
A “yes” to any of the questions, she says, triggers a follow-up call from experts.
“We’re learning a lot of things along the way already, which is that women are really appreciative of just having someone that they can call,” she says. “We’re catching early warning signs of potential postpartum complications and getting people to appropriate care so although we aren’t seeing results of the study, yet, we’re seeing positive results.”
Another part of the study involves detecting discrimination during care. In a state legislative review, discrimination was blamed for more than a third of pregnancy-related deaths.
Guille says while the program cannot reverse effects, it can build a plan to move forward safely.
Study leaders hope to have 3,000 women join the study over the next few years.
To participate, patients must be between 16 and 49 years old, have delivered a baby in the last two weeks in South Carolina and must be insured by Medicaid.
For more information and to see if you qualify, please contact the study team at 843-998-5635 or HEAR4mamas@musc.edu.
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MUSC study focusing on reducing death rate for new SC moms
