(BPT) - On Mother’s Day, we celebrate moms across the U.S., and their journey to and through motherhood that can be beautiful, messy, and sometimes overwhelming. From gathering information …
This item is available in full to subscribers.
To continue reading, you will need to either log in to your subscriber account, below, or purchase a new subscription.
Please log in to continue |
(BPT) - On Mother’s Day, we celebrate moms across the U.S., and their journey to and through motherhood that can be beautiful, messy, and sometimes overwhelming. From gathering information about their care to scheduling appointments, and making decisions about their health and nutrition, moms have a complex journey to navigate — and this journey isn’t the same for everyone. The good news is that there are opportunities to help improve the experience and health outcomes for all.
Recognizing the need for innovative ways to improve maternal health, the Deloitte Center for Health Solutions researched how digital tools, like apps, patient portals, and health care websites, could improve the maternity journey by addressing health care disparities and improving access to care for all birthing persons.
Deloitte found that digital tools could boost maternal health empowerment, with nearly three out of four respondents using digital tools to manage specific health needs. Through digital tools, moms and families can be empowered with data, gain access to culturally informed care, and amplify community voices for greater transparency and accountability.
Data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows that Black women are three times more likely to die from pregnancy-related causes than White women. Deloitte’s research found that Black, mixed-race, and Hispanic respondents were twice as likely as White respondents to say that digital tools for maternal health did not meet their personal needs or align with their cultural backgrounds. Deloitte’s report included interviews with experts that suggest digital tools and resources appear to lack diversity in their design and may not have been designed with inclusivity and user experience in mind, which is critical to tool adoption and impact. Yet, across all races, Deloitte found that more than four out of five respondents are willing to be involved all throughout the development process for tools.
“Our research suggests that the use of digital tools has the potential to address gaps in access to care and empower moms to manage their health, which is critically important for improving maternal health outcomes in the U.S.,” said Kulleni Gebreyes, M.D., Deloitte U.S. Consulting Life Sciences and health care leader and U.S. chief health equity officer. “When we surveyed expectant mothers about their experiences with digital tools, we learned that these tools aren’t necessarily designed with all moms in mind.”
According to the Deloitte report, this could mean providing the information in different languages for comprehension, showing what conditions or risk factors might look like on different skin tones, or accounting for cultural stigmas related to certain topics like mental health. Designing health apps that are free from bias is essential to ensure everyone has access to the tools they need to improve their health.
Moms Know Best: 5 Ways to Improve Maternal Health
When it comes to making changes to improve maternal and children’s health, moms say it’s important for clinicians to listen and to understand their lived experience and develop tools with their unique needs in mind:
Health care executives and clinicians need to have bold action on addressing maternal health inequities. One preventable death is one too many. Executives can look at their data, identify gaps and prioritize improvement strategies.
This Mother’s Day let’s celebrate not just a single journey but the journeys of all moms with dignity, the best care possible, and with empathy. Together, we can help build a future where every mother feels empowered, supported, and heard on the path to parenthood. Healthy mothers can contribute to healthy communities, and that’s a reason to celebrate!
To learn more about Deloitte’s findings, read the full report: “Maternal health inequities persist. Can digital tools be part of the solutions?”