And several centers, including Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston and NewYork-Presbyterian, make sure mothers have access to doulas – professional support people trained in the needs of the family during pregnancy and childbirth.
The survey found that 9 of the 10 centers have obstetric programs devoted to cardiac care, including the University of Chicago, Stanford Medicine, UCLA, and the Cleveland Clinic.
But the survey results raise the question: How can we have these programs and research at our best obstetrics centers devoted to reducing maternal mortality and have the highest rate of all developed countries?
“Maternal mortality largely falls on pregnant and birthing persons who do not intersect with, nor are touched, by the best obstetrical care centers in the country,” Dr. Simon said.
Unfortunately, she said, the pregnant people who face “high maternal mortality rates … face all the access-to-care barriers and do not have the privilege of birthing or accessing care at top centers.”
Anne Hutchinson believed going to a top center – the Cleveland Clinic – would give her a good chance of safely delivering a second child.
Karlee Hoffman, DO, a cardiologist in the hospital’s cardio-obstetric high-risk clinic, said Ms. Hutchinson “came to me, she was determined to have another child, and she said, ‘Please help me do this. I’m doing it regardless. So, I would really like your support in moving forward,’” Dr. Hoffman recalls.
Ms. Hutchinson said Cleveland Clinic doctors told her she had a 20%-30% chance of peripartum cardiomyopathy again if she had a second child. If that happened, the risks “ranged from mild decompensation of my heart function to death,“ she said.
Ms. Hutchinson and her husband decided to go ahead with the pregnancy. Her parents cried when they found out. But Ms. Hutchinson says she was confident in the cardio obstetric team at Cleveland Clinic.
Her fertility medicine raised the possibility of multiple births, which would be a definite threat to her life. Her heart failure medicine, Entresto, could not be used during pregnancy, so her doctors put her on older medicines.
She got pregnant in June 2022 and developed gestational diabetes, which can affect pregnancy because of raised blood sugar. Another potential risk. She was carefully monitored by the specialists and hospitalized once.
At 37 weeks, she was induced and had a forceps delivery. On Feb. 15, 2023, her second daughter, Charlotte, was born.
Ms. Hutchinson was asked to write about how she felt when she delivered Charlotte:
“I am not sure how to put into words the love, joy, and elation that I felt holding Charlotte for the first time. As I write this, I have tears of joy in my eyes thinking of that moment. I had prayed for her for so long and after being told I couldn’t or shouldn’t have any more children.”
“I felt that Charlotte and I were forever bonded in triumph from that moment on. We did it and made it out alive! And our family was now complete. I have so much joy watching the love that is growing between Charlotte and Lillian. Life is truly amazing, and I am forever grateful to have them.”
A version of this article first appeared on WebMD.com.