State efforts to improve maternity care and reduce racial gaps
The Impacts of State Quality Care Collaboratives on Maternal Health Disparities by Race/Ethnicity
This project looks at whether state quality improvement programs for maternity care help lower serious pregnancy complications and deaths, especially for Black and Hispanic birthing people.
Quick facts
| Grant type | R01 grant |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | Rand Corporation NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Santa Monica, United States) |
| Project ID | NIH-11144972 on NIH RePORTER |
What this research studies
Researchers will survey state health departments, maternal quality collaboratives, and hospitals about the care toolkits and training they use. They will combine those survey responses with national data from 2003–2023 on severe maternal complications and maternal deaths to compare outcomes across states. From your perspective as someone giving birth, the study looks at whether states with particular programs have fewer life-threatening complications and smaller racial/ethnic gaps. The goal is to point to which state-level programs and hospital practices could make childbirth safer for you and your community.
Who could benefit from this research
Good fit: The patients whose experiences are being compared are people who gave birth in U.S. hospitals—especially Black and Hispanic birthing people experiencing severe complications—though the project mostly works with state and hospital data.
Not a fit: People who gave birth outside participating hospitals, outside the U.S., or whose care is not captured in the available data are less likely to be directly reflected or benefit from the findings.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, the work could identify state programs and hospital practices that reduce life‑threatening pregnancy complications and help narrow racial disparities in maternal health.
How similar studies have performed: Some state quality collaboratives have shown improvements in maternal outcomes in limited reports, but racial disparities have often persisted, so this builds on promising but incomplete evidence.
Where this research is happening
Santa Monica, United States
- Rand Corporation — Santa Monica, United States (Active)
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Landis, Rachel Keller — Rand Corporation
- Study coordinator: Landis, Rachel Keller
About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page below.