The MetroHealth System launched a midwifery program this month in an effort to drive down infant mortality rates in Northeast Ohio.
Amy Lowell, who joined MetroHealth in late June as director of the new midwifery program, said the first priority for the new program is a focus on the communities that have been hardest hit by infant mortality.
"Right now, we are going to be located primarily at Cleveland Heights and Brooklyn," she said. "And the decision for that was based on zip codes with the worst outcomes."
According to Case Western Reserve University, the infant mortality rate for Black babies in Cleveland is more than double the rate for white babies, with 15.4 deaths per 1,000 live births for Black infants versus 6.9 deaths per 1,000 for white infants. In Cuyahoga County, the rate is 13 deaths for every 1,000 births for Black infants versus four deaths for every 1,000 births for white infants.
Jazmin Long, CEO of Birthing Beautiful Communities, a nonprofit dedicated to reducing the infant and maternal mortality rate in Cleveland, agreed that providing this service to disadvantaged communities is necessary and equitable.
"I just think that this speaks to the understanding that it doesn't matter what our current population is, they deserve respect, they deserve to have dignity in their birth and they deserve to have quality care for them," Long said.
MetroHealth is providing labor support by using doulas from Birthing Beautiful Communities. Doulas are birthing professionals who provide information and counseling during pregnancy, comfort during labor and assistance with breastfeeding and newborn care.
Both midwives and doulas play critical roles in the delivery process, Long noted.
"Us doulas, we are labor and delivery support coaches," she said. "We offer the social support and they [midwives] offer the clinical support. Both are needed to really ensure that our families here in Northeast Ohio have what they need to have great birth outcomes and great experiences in their labor and delivery at the hospital."
Lowell noted that MetroHealth is adding five midwives to its program, which will improve access to care.
"That's going to mean that patients can get in earlier," she said, adding that earlier care can head off potential complications and relay important information to help expectant mothers make good decisions for their sake and their child. "Our job is to give you the information, to make the best choices for you."
Part of this work is countering misinformation, such as the assumption that there's no need to be screened for diabetes just because a patient's mother did not have diabetes, or the assumption that an epidural will not work or could cause paralysis, Lowell added.
"A lot of women come in with really false information that they've either gotten from family members who have good intentions or the internet," she said. "It's our job to dispel the myths so they can get their facts right, so that they can make the decision to keep themselves healthy and the baby healthy."
The program is also meant to engage more with expectant mothers to ensure they have more of a say in decisions regarding their child's birth, Lowell added.
"I would like our patients to know, besides getting solid care, that the relationship that we're looking to build with them is that they're an active participant in their health care and that they'll be listened to," she said. "Obviously, the end result we all want is a healthy, full-term baby, healthy mom. Getting there looks differently for each family, so I want them to know that they will be active participants in the care."
Lowell said her plans are to expand the program to add additional midwives over the next two years.
