Date Posted: March 5, 2021

To mark the publication of a special issue of the Journal of Women’s Health on the problem of maternal morbidity and mortality (MMM) in the United States, ORWH hosted a Twitter chat (@NIH_ORWH, #NIHMaternalHealthChat) on February 24, 2021, on issues related to maternal and obstetric health and safety. 

Maternal health experts responded to questions such as: 

  • What is the current state of maternal health in the United States? How does it compare with maternal health in other countries? 
  • What are the populations at risk for MMM in the United States? What are the factors underlying their higher risk?
  • How can we improve the safety and quality of maternity care?
  • What are some of the social, structural, and environmental determinants of maternal health? 

Dr. Clayton answering a question during the maternal health Twitter chat.

Experts from across NIH and the biomedical research community—including ORWH Director Janine A. Clayton, M.D., FARVO, and staff members Régine Douthard, M.D., Elena Gorodetsky, M.D., Ph.D., Samia Noursi, Ph.D., and David Thomas, Ph.D.—provided answers based on current research, established best practices, and the articles published in the special issue of the Journal of Women’s Health.

The Twitter chat was well received and yielded 33.1 million impressions overall on the day of the chat (including 261,000 impressions and 2,301 engagements based on the ORWH content alone). You can read a record of the Twitter chat here