maternal health dissertation topics

PhD, Maternal and Child Health

Advance the health and well-being of women, children and their families

The Ph.D. program in family science provides a research-oriented approach to the discovery and application of knowledge about families, family theory, research methodology, family policy, family programs and ethnic families.

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Perfect for...

• Students looking for a unique program focused on the entirety of the family system and family health policy.
• Students looking for a program with an emphasis on low-income and minority populations.

Career Paths

• Academic and research positions in colleges and universities
• High level administrative or research positions in city/county/state/national health and human service agencies
• Leadership positions in nongovernmental and advocacy organizations.
• Positions in hospitals, HMO and health insurers

Program Overview

The maternal and child health doctoral program provides interdisciplinary training in research, theory, policy and practice relevant to health and well-being as well as services for women, children, and their families. Graduate students learn about health disparities, the life course perspective, mental health, obesity, childhood injury, family and health policy, adoption, domestic and child abuse, family support, epidemiology, and research methods.  Students graduate with the skills and knowledge for professional work in educational, governmental, and clinical settings. 

Visit the Department of Family Science site.

For more information, see the Family Science flyer.

Upon graduating with a PhD in Maternal and Child Health, students will be able to:

• Describe the independent and interdependent determinants of health, disease, and disparities; including individual, familial, social, cultural, racial/ethnic, medical and environmental factors.
• Design a study to test hypotheses on an MCH issue. Review literature, select appropriate design, data, methodology and methods, analyze data, draw appropriate conclusions, and summarize findings for publication.
• Identify, analyze, and evaluate U.S. health care policy, program, and data surveillance systems.
• Synthesize and translate MCH knowledge into understandable information to advance health literacy.
• Formulate advocacy strategies to implement MCH policy while balancing interests of diverse stakeholders.

The MCH Ph.D. curriculum requires 57 graduate credit hours beyond the master’s degree public health core (15 credits), including maternal and child health core courses (20 credits), research methods courses (16 credits), electives (6 credits), research internship (3 credits), and dissertation credits (12 credits). Please consult with your advisor and the Director of Graduate Studies as individual study plans may differ. Students in the Ph.D. program advance to candidacy after completing required coursework and passing a written qualifying examination. After advancement to candidacy, students must complete a dissertation proposal and oral defense, followed by the doctoral dissertation and oral dissertation defense. 

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Department of Family Science

Dr. Tanner Kilpatrick Director of Graduate Studies [email protected]

Maternal Health Task Force

Antenatal and Postnatal Care

Contraception & family planning, disease and maternal health, innovations in maternal health, maternal health care systems, perinatal period, social determinants of maternal health, sustainable development goals for maternal mortality.

The 2024 HST graduation

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Photo credit: Justin Knight.

There were 57 clinician-scientists in this year’s graduating class, 40 attended the ceremony

Mindy Blodgett | IMES-HST

The 2024 graduating class of the Harvard-MIT Program in Health Sciences and Technology (HST) gathered on May 22, to celebrate their accomplishments with their families and friends, at the MIT Bartos Theater & Atrium. Also in attendance were HST alumni, faculty, and staff. 

This 2024 graduation class includes 57 graduates: 35 MD graduates, and 25 Medical Engineering and Medical Physics (MEMP)PhDs; one Master of Science graduate, and one Graduate Education in Medical Sciences, or GEMS certificate, recipient. There were 40 graduates in attendance. HST MD graduates also participated in Harvard graduation events on May 23, and graduates of the HST Medical Engineering and Medical Physics (MEMP) PhD program participated in the MIT School of Engineering Advanced Degree Ceremony, and hooding event, on May 29. 

Photo credit: Justin Knight

All enjoyed congratulatory remarks from HST Associate Director Richard N. Mitchell, MD, PhD; Dean of the Harvard Medical School (HMS) George Q. Daley, MD (HST ’91), PhD; and Elazer Edelman, MD (HST ’83), PhD (HST ’84), Director of the Institute for Medical Engineering and Science (IMES).  Also participating in the ceremony were Wolfram Goessling MD, PhD, the co-director of HST at Harvard, Collin M. Stultz, MD, (HST ’97), PhD, co-director of HST at MIT, and associate director of IMES (IMES is HST’s home at MIT), as well as Junne Kamihara, Associate Director, MD Advising, HST, and HST Associate Director, Matthew Frosch.

L to R, Junne Kamihara, Associate Director, MD Advising, HST; HST Associate Director Richard N. Mitchell, MD, PhD. Photo credit: Justin Knight

Dean Daley, an HST alumnus, called the occasion, a “spectacular achievement to graduate from the country’s pre-eminent program in translational biomedical science and engineering” and he praised the graduates’ “persistence in getting through the pandemic,” as Covid was at its height when many from the class began their studies in 2020. Daley observed that the graduates will witness “explosive developments” during their careers, in such areas as gene editing, artificial intelligence (AI) and the needs of an aging population. 

Harvard Medical School (HMS) George Q. Daley, MD (HST ’91), PhD. Photo credit: Justin Knight.

Stultz called addressing the graduates “one of the best parts of my job,” remarking that “few individuals have achieved your level of accomplishments.” 

Collin M. Stultz, MD, (HST ’97), PhD, co-director of HST at MIT, and associate director of IMES. Photo credit: Justin Knight.

Wolfram Goessling MD, PhD, the co-director of HST at Harvard. Photo credit: Justin Knight.

Edelman, an HST alumnus, who is also a senior attending physician, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, shared a story about one of his patients, a middle school principal from Western Massachusetts, who was the “heart and soul” of his school, and of his small town. He said that the graduates were chosen for HST because “of what we saw in you…your heart and soul” and that “together, we can harness medicine to make the world a better place.”

Elazer Edelman, MD (HST ’83), PhD (HST ’84), Director of the Institute for Medical Engineering and Science (IMES). Photo credit: Justin Knight.

Abby Aymond, an HST MD graduate, was the 2024 class speaker. She praised the “exceptional sense of community and friendship” she had experienced while a student at HST. She said the some of the lessons she was taking from her years at HST were to “relax all the noise…focus only on the problem at hand…and to always be open to new information.”

Abby Aymond, HST MD graduate, was the 2024 class speaker. Photo credit: Justin Knight.

Elazer Edelman, left, and George Daley, right, address the graduates at the end of the ceremony, urging them to stay in touch. Photo credit: Justin Knight.

HST Associate Director Richard N. Mitchell donned the traditional Red Sox graduation cap, and applauded the graduates. Photo credit: Justin Knight.

The HST 2024 Graduates:

Doctor of Medicine

Medical Sciences

Abby Aymond, BS

Thesis Topic: Optimization of Ventricular Efficiency and Renal Artery Perfusion in a Bench Top Model System

Alaleh Azhir, BS

Thesis Topic: Chromosomes vs Hormones: Decoding the Expression Mosaic in Liver and Adipose Tissues

James Diao, BS

summa cum laude

The Seidman Prize for Outstanding HST Senior Medical Student Thesis

Richard C. Cabot Prize

Thesis Topic: The Use of Race in Clinical Algorithms

Christopher Michael Dietrich, BS

Thesis Topic: Towards Treat-Seq: Predicting Therapeutic Response from Transcriptomic Signatures

Jonah Issac Donnenfield, BA

magna cum laude

Thesis Topic: Transcriptomic Profiling of the Post-traumatic Porcine Knee: Degenerative Pathophysiology and Machine Learning Application

Micayla Flores, SB

Thesis Topic: Ambulatory and Delivery Obstetric Comorbidity Index (OB-CMI) for Identification of Pregnant Individuals at Risk for Severe Maternal Morbidity (SMM)

Allyson Freedy, BA, PhD

Leon Reznick Memorial Prize

HMS Multiculturalism Award

Thesis Topic: Uncovering the Biology of Chromatin Regulators with Drug Resistance Alleles

William Hao Ge, BS

Thesis Topic: Stereotypic Patterns and Genomic Correlates of Organotropism in Metastatic Melanoma

Blake Hauser, BSPH, PhD

Thesis Topic: Structure-Based Network Analysis Predicts Pathogenic Variants in Human Proteins Associated with Inherited Retinal Disease

Sofia Hu, BA, PhD

Thesis Topic: Transcription Factor Antagonism Regulates Heterogeneity in Embryonic Stem Cell States

Nauman Javed, BS, PhD

Thesis Topic: Strategies for Characterizing the Regulatory Code of the Human Genome

Tushar Vinod Kamath, SB, SM, PhD

Thesis Topic: Cell States and Neuronal Vulnerabilities in Neurodegenerative Diseases

Minjee Kim, BA

Thesis Topic: Transcriptional Antagonism by CDK8 Inhibition Improves Therapeutic Efficacy of MEK Inhibitors

Patrick Lenehan, BS, PhD

Thesis Topic: Investigating the Impact of Eosinophils on Pancreatic Cancer Growth and Metastasis

Claudio Macias Trevino, BS, PhD

Thesis Topic: Transcriptional Regulation of Esrp1 and its Role in Craniofacial Morphogenesis

Eliana Marostica, BA, MBMI

Thesis Topic: Systematic Quantification of Morphological Patterns in Surgical Specimens of Cancers

Eduardo Maury, SB, PhD

Thesis Topic: Somatic Mutations in the Human Brain: Tracing the Origins of Cancer and Schizophrenia

Elizabeth Minten, BS, PhD

Thesis Topic: Role of CDK12 in R-Loop Formation

Katherine Nabel Smith, BS, PhD

Thesis Topic: Molecular Mechanisms for Broad Neutralization of Emerging RNA Viruses

Julia E. Page, SB, PhD

Thesis Topic: Peptidoglycan Hydrolases, their Protein Partners, and Related Membrane Proteins in Staphylococcus Aureus

Deborah Plana, SB, PhD

Thesis Topic: Clinical Trial Data Science to Advance Precision Oncology

Sheridan Rea, BS, MS

Thesis Topic: Retrospective Cohort Analysis of Sociodemographic Factors and Postpartum Hemorrhage Outcomes

Sara Ann Rubin, BA, PhD

Thesis Topic: Zebrafish Immune Cell Development and Diversity in Health and Disease

Jamie Erin Shade, BS

Thesis Topic: Relationships Between Cardiac Magnetic Resonance-derived Myocardial, Hepatic, and Splenic Extracellular Volumes in Patients after the Fontan Operation

Bryce Filip Starr, BS

Thesis Topic: Generation and Validation of a Bileaflet Venous Valve for Single Ventricle Physiology

Hannah Jacqueline Szapary, BS, SM

Thesis Topic: Mechanical and Biologic Impact of Dynamic Loading on Bovine and Human Models of Osteoarthritis

Max Louis Valenstein, BS, MS, PhD

Thesis Topic: Integration of Amino Acid Signals by the mTORC1 Pathway

Sarah Weiss, SB, PhD

Thesis Topic: Deletion of an Exhaustion-specific PD-1 Enhancer Modulates CD8+ T Cell Fate and Function

Omar Yaghi, BS, PhD

Thesis Topic: Uncovering Stromal Cell Functions in Acute and Chronic Muscle Injuries

Katherine Young, SB, MEng

Thesis Topic: Transmission and Evolution of Staphylococcus Aureus in Families with Atopic Dermatitis

Doctor of Philosophy

Medical Engineering/Medical Physics

Jon Arizti Sanz, MNG

Thesis Topic: From Sample to Answer: Innovations in Sample Processing and CRISPR-based Diagnostics for Enhanced Clinical Translation and Field Deployment

Olivia Jane Arnold, SB

Thesis Topic: Therapeutic Applications of DNA Origami-based Progammable Nanoparticles

Rachel Bellisle, SB

Thesis Topic: A Wearable Countermeasure for Musculoskeletal Deconditioning in Human Spaceflight

Adam G. Berger, SB

Thesis Topic: Systematic Engineering of Controlled, Localized Oligonucleotide Delivery Systems for Wound Angiogenesis

Jennifer Dawkins, SB

Thesis Topic: Computational Prediction of Health Status from the Human Gut Microbiome and Metabolome

Brian Tshao Do, SB

Thesis Topic: Metabolic and Genetic Factors Guiding Hematopoietic Cell Fate

Mingjian He, SB

Thesis Topic: State-space Modeling of Neural Oscillations: Toward Assessing Alzheimer’s Disease Neuropathology with Sleep EEG

Brennan Leo Jackson, SB

Thesis Topic: The Impact of Gamma Stimulation on Neurological Phenotypes of Alzheimer's Dementia and Down Syndrome

Morgan Elizabeth Janes, SB

Thesis Topic: Engineering Translational Vaccine Delivery Systems with the Polyphenol Tannic Acid

Ashwin Srinivasan Kumar, BNG

Thesis Topic: Targeting B Cells to Improve Therapeutic Outcomes for Pediatric Medulloblastoma

Christian Landeros, SB

Thesis Topic: Machine-Guided Biopsy Analysis in Oncology: Facilitating Diagnostic Access and Biomedical Discovery Through Deep Learning

Ben D. Leaker, BNG

Thesis Topic: Biological and Biomechanical Effects of Direct Perturbation of Tissue Structure in the Cirrhotic Liver

Fiona Macleod, BNG

Thesis Topic: Investigating the Fidelity of Classic Cardiovascular Metrics in the Context of a Failing and Mechanically Supported Heart

Maria Carmen Martin Alonso, MNG

Thesis Topic: Amplifying Signals in the Tumor Microenvironment for Drug Development and Diagnostics

Eli Mattingly, SB

Thesis Topic: Design, Construction, and Validation of Magnetic Particle Imaging Systems for Rodent, Primate, and Human Functional Neuroimaging

Vincent Miao, BNG

Thesis Topic: Profiling Host Respiratory Responses to SARS-CoV-2 Infection

Allison Paige Porter, SB

Thesis Topic: Automation Framework for Exploration Medicine (AFEM): A Path for Integrating Automation into Autonomous Emergency Care

Rumya Raghavan, SB

Thesis Topic: Engineering Minimally Immunogenic Cargos and Delivery Modalities for Gene Therapy

Michelle Ramseier, SB

Thesis Topic: Cooptation of B Cell Developmental States in Malignancy and Autoimmunity

Luca Rosalia, MNG

Thesis Topic: Soft Robotic Platforms for the Simulation of Cardiovascular Disease and Device Development

Daphne Schlesinger, SB

Thesis Topic: Physiology-Inspired Deep Learning for Improved Heart Failure Management

Sydney Sherman, SB

Thesis Topic: Single-sided Magnetic Resonance Sensors for Clinical Detection of Volume Status

Nalini Singh, SB

Thesis Topic: Physics-Inspired Deep Learning for Inverse Problems in MRI

Anubhav Sinha, SB, MNG

Thesis Topic: Spatially Precise in situ Transcriptomics in Intact Biological Systems

Mingyu Yang, SB

Thesis Topic: Myelination Diseases of the Central Nervous System: Artificial Axons as in Vitro Models of Chemomechanical Cues

Master of Science

Health Sciences and Technology

Noah Stanley Warner, SB

Thesis Topic: A Framework for Detection and Observation of Radiation Chemistry Species on an MR-Linac

Certificate

Graduate Education in Medical Sciences

Akshay Kothakonda, BNG, SM

Thesis Topic: Engineering Mechanical Counter Pressure Spacesuits and Compression Garments: Active Pressurization and Design for Mobility

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Addressing maternal prenatal depression can lead to longer gestation, researchers say

by Kelsea Pieters, CU Anschutz Medical Campus

A cohort of researchers lead by the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus and the University of Denver are emphasizing the importance of maternal prenatal mental health, suggesting prenatal depression intervention can lead to longer gestation, healthier babies and intergenerational benefits.

A collaborative study, published in the journal eClinicalMedicine , highlights the breadth of existing research underscoring the impact shortened gestational periods have on the health of the newborn, identifying maternal prenatal depression as a link to early birth. Despite the magnitude of evidence, researchers say there is a lack of progress in reducing rates of early delivery.

"Prenatal maternal depression rates are higher than postpartum depression rates, but are not as targeted despite well-documented impact it can have on gestation length," says Elysia Davis, Ph.D., associate adjoint professor of psychiatry at the University of Colorado School of Medicine, distinguished professor at the University of Denver and first author. "The prenatal care necessary for pregnant individuals provides a window of opportunity to address mental health concerns by requiring routine visits with their provider, when they may not otherwise interact with the health care system."

The study involves a random clinical trial in which 226 pregnant individuals received either enhanced usual care or interpersonal psychotherapy during routine prenatal care appointments. Results indicate that participants reported a reduction in depression and were more likely to experience longer gestation.

"What this suggests is that by reducing the mother's depression during pregnancy, we can increase the rate of babies born full term, ultimately impacting morbidity and mortality rates among newborns," says Davis.

"These findings really provide proof of concept that low-cost, safe and efficacious intervention program can benefit families intergenerationally," says Catherine Demers, Ph.D., assistant professor of psychiatry at the University of Colorado School of Medicine and study co-author.

"This safe intervention is relatively easy to implement and focuses on pregnancy as a vulnerable period of time, emphasizing enhanced communication skills and psychoeducation as ways to increase interpersonal support."

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Plastic bag ban, maternal health bill eyed for State House votes this week

• katielannan

Wrapping up a $58 billion state budget, passing major housing legislation and ironing out a deal on a gun-reform package are among the marquee items on state lawmakers’ to-do list as their formal session winds down for the year. This week, the House and Senate are tacking on a few more topics.

Both chambers of the Legislature plan to vote on significant bills Thursday. While the Senate is zeroing in on climate and energy issues, the House has maternal health in its sights.

“We are in a climate crisis, and we need to do more to ensure that we meet our net-zero goals for 2050,” Senate President Karen Spilka said after meeting privately with House Speaker Ron Mariano, Gov. Maura Healey and Lt. Gov. Kim Driscoll.

The Senate has two bills on its agenda. One aims to cut back on plastic waste by prohibiting carry-out plastic bags at stores across the state. Shops that provide recycled plastic bags would be required to charge a 10-cent fee for them, 5 cents of which would go toward environmental protection measures.

Many towns have already adopted local-level bag bans and restrictions, creating a patchwork of regulations throughout the state. According to the Sierra Club, 162 cities and towns in Massachusetts — home to 70% of the state’s population — regulate single-use plastic bags.

The Senate’s other bill seeks to speed up the siting and permitting of clean energy infrastructure projects and expand access to electric vehicle charging equipment, among other measures aimed at curbing greenhouse gas emissions.

Massachusetts has committed in state law to achieving net-zero carbon emissions by 2050.

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Mass. house votes to expand the definition of 'parent', mass. house approves 5-year, $6.5-billion housing bill.

In the House, Mariano said state representatives will take up “a bill that will strengthen the ability for us to care for mothers from the beginning of pregnancy right through postpartum.”

Monday’s huddle marked the first time in nearly three months that the State House’s top officials had publicly disclosed a meeting. It comes as the Legislature is entering its biennial crunch time: A finalized state budget is supposed to be in place each year by July 1, and formal lawmaking ends for the two-year term on July 31.

The budget is one of four bills tied up in private talks between the House and the Senate, along with legislation on gun law reforms, wage transparency and the state’s efforts to attract federal funding.

Several other bills have passed one chamber and are awaiting action in the other, like a multibillion dollar housing bond that Healey has talked up as one of her priorities. That bill passed the House on June 5, and Spilka said the Senate plans to take up its own version “before the month is over.”

Massachusetts is often the last state to adopt a full annual budget, and relies on one-month interim budgets to keep state government running when negotiations drag past the July 1 start of the fiscal year.

Mariano said that, this year, the budget talks led by Ways and Means Chairmen Rep. Aaron Michlewitz and Sen. Michael Rodrigues “seem to be very advanced.” He said the two were exchanging proposals last Saturday.

“Usually they’re a little bit more under the gun before they start working Saturdays, so they started a little earlier this year,” the speaker said. “I think it’s in good shape.”

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Outcomes of Laparotomic Myomectomy during Pregnancy for Symptomatic Uterine Fibroids: A Prospective Cohort Study

Affiliations.

• 1 Gynecological Department of the Moscow Regional Research Institute of Obstetrics and Gynecology, State-Funded Health Care Facility of Moscow Region (GBUZ MO MONIIAG), 22A Pokrovka, 101000 Moscow, Russia.
• 2 Unit of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Department of Biomedical and Human Oncological Science, University of Bari, 70100 Bari, Italy.
• 3 Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Balamand, Beirut 1100, Lebanon.
• 4 Department of Health Promotion, Mother and Child Care, Internal Medicine and Medical Specialties (PROMISE), University of Palermo, 90133 Palermo, Italy.
• 5 Unit of Gynecologic Oncology, National Cancer Institute-IRCCS-Fondazione "G. Pascale", 80131 Naples, Italy.
• 6 Unit of Obstetrics and Gynecology, "Paolo Giaccone" Hospital, 90127 Palermo, Italy.
• PMID: 37835049
• PMCID: PMC10573479
• DOI: 10.3390/jcm12196406

Background : The incidence of pregnant women with uterine fibroids is increasing. As they are reactive to hormonal stimuli, in some cases, uterine fibroids tend to grow during pregnancy and potentially generate symptoms with different levels of severity, causing maternal-fetal complications. In very select cases, when other treatment strategies fail to manage symptoms and there is a substantial risk of adverse pregnancy outcomes, a surgical approach during pregnancy may be considered. Methods : From 2016 to 2021, the data from 28 pregnant women with symptomatic uterine fibroids who underwent laparotomic myomectomy during pregnancy were prospectively collected, and operative and maternal-fetal outcomes were analyzed (ClinicalTrial ID: NCT06009562 ). Results : The procedure was carried out between 14 and 16 weeks of pregnancy. Four (14.3%) patients had intraoperative complications (miscarriages) and nine (32.1%) had postoperative complications (threatened preterm birth). Overall, 24 (85.7%) women delivered at full term (mean: 38.2 gestational weeks), more than half ( n = 13; 54.2%) by vaginal delivery, with normal fetal weights and 1 and 5 min Apgar scores. Conclusions : Laparotomic myomectomy during pregnancy can be considered in selected cases for uterine fibroids with severe symptoms when other treatment options have failed and there is high risk of adverse maternal-fetal outcomes.

Keywords: maternal–fetal outcomes; myomas; myomectomy; pregnancy; uterine fibroids.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

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Texas’ maternal mortality committee questions recent changes after anti-abortion doctor’s appointment

The committee’s chair also raised concerns about the state’s possible departure from a federal system to share data about maternal deaths.

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The chair of Texas’ maternal mortality review committee expressed concerns Tuesday with recent changes to the body, including the Legislature’s elimination of the community advocate position and the Department of State Health Services commissioner’s recent appointment of an anti-abortion doctor to the committee.

Dr. Ingrid Skop, a San Antonio OB/GYN who was appointed to the committee last month, is vice president and medical director at the Charlotte Lozier Institute, the research arm of the political advocacy group Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America. She is prominent among a small group of anti-abortion doctors who frequently testify at Congress and state legislatures and are trotted out as expert witnesses in court cases.

Dr. Carla Ortique, the Houston OB/GYN who chairs the committee, said Tuesday other committee members have told her they’re worried it might seem like the rest of the committee shares Skop’s views. She noted Skop’s appointment prompted national news coverage and concerns about potential bias in the committee’s recommendations.

Ortique reiterated that the committee’s focus will continue to be the way Texas and the nation are failing pregnant women — particularly Black women — and that their work relies on science, medical evidence and public health standards in investigating maternal deaths.

“We will continue to strive for standardization of the review process and application of a public health equity lens to guide our deliberations,” Ortique said. She noted the committee is intentionally racially, ethnically, culturally and economically diverse, and while they never discuss politics during the review process, “I believe it's safe to assume that our committee members are likewise not politically nor ideologically homogeneous.”

Skop was appointed in May as part of a slate of new positions created by the Legislature last session. The committee originally had 15 members, including a position for a community advocate. That role was most recently filled by Nakeenya Wilson, a grassroots maternal health worker and Black woman who herself experienced a difficult childbirth.

In expanding the committee to 23 members, the Legislature eliminated the community advocate role and replaced it with two positions for community members who have experience in a health care field, undermining the grassroots nature of the original position. One of the new community member positions is meant to represent pregnant women in the state’s urban areas and the other rural regions.

Wilson, who is based in the Austin area, applied for the new position but was not appointed. Instead, the urban role went to Dr. Meenakshi Awasthi, a pediatric emergency medicine fellow at the University of Texas Health Science Center in Houston, and the rural position went to Skop, who practices in San Antonio, the state’s second-largest city.

At Tuesday’s meeting, the first without Wilson, Ortique and other members applauded Wilson’s work on the committee and raised concerns about what this shift means for the group’s future.

“As I sat and listened to the roll call today, it was abundantly apparent that greater than 90% of our members now hold doctoral-level degrees,” Ortique said. “This is a cause for concern.”

Maternal mortality review committees across the country have long recognized the importance of having community members at the table for these discussions, Ortique said.

“it is rarely possible for those who sit in positions of privilege to truly be the voice of at-risk communities,” she said. “We can and should at all times be voices that support and attempt to foster positive change. We can be trusted allies. However, we cannot truly be their voice.”

Ortique encouraged committee members to continue to find ways to hear from and center the experiences of Black women, uninsured women and others with limited access to maternal health care. Dr. Carey Eppes, a maternal-fetal medicine specialist at Texas Children’s Hospital who serves on the committee, thanked Wilson for her work and willingness to share her experiences with the committee and other maternal health initiatives in Texas.

“Her contributions have been invaluable and I have learned a lot from working with her,” she said.

Ortique reminded committee members that the Legislature makes decisions about the committee’s makeup and the Department of State Health Services commissioner decides who to appoint to the body.

“Regardless of personal belief and opinion, we must respect the importance of upholding the integrity of the process and accept the commissioner’s right and authority to make appointments that they deem to be best,” she said.

Ortique also raised concerns about the future of Texas’ use of a federal maternal death data system.

Texas, like almost every other state, currently relies on the Centers for Disease Control’s Maternal Mortality Review Information Application system to track maternal deaths. But last year, the Legislature appropriated almost $6 million to create a state-level program that would allow Texas to cut itself out of the federal program.

At Tuesday’s meeting, Ortique spoke about attending a CDC conference in Atlanta and highlighted all the important input that comes from cross-state collaboration. Participating in the national system allows Texas to “efficiently and effectively” review cases and contribute to the national conversation about maternal deaths, Ortique said.

The committee believes a state that represents more than 10% of the births in the country should continue to participate in the MMRIA system, Ortique said, even if that means running federal and state data systems simultaneously. But she acknowledged that was not what the legislation intended, and it is not clear whether Texas will be able to remain in the national system.

Despite all the national attention on Skop’s appointment, only one person spoke during the public comment period Tuesday. Dinah Waranch, a midwife and frequent attendee of these meetings, expressed her frustration with what she characterized as the committee’s timidity.

“It seems the committee is both imprisoned by its insider perspective and at the mercy of cruel political forces,” she said. “Partisanship, the politics of abortion and institutional rigidity are anathema to bringing the changes that must happen to save lives.”

“You have more power than you admit to,” she said to the committee members. “And I’d like you to take charge of your own power.”

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Information about the authors

Eleanor Klibanoff

Women's health reporter.

[email protected]

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