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Maternal & Child Health Epidemiology

Contact Information

Email: NJ-MMRC@doh.nj.gov

Maternal Mortality Review Committee (MMRC)

Maternal Mortality Review Committee (MMRC)

The New Jersey Maternal Mortality Review Committee (NJMMRC) leads New Jersey’s mandated public health effort to understand and prevent maternal deaths in New Jersey. Established under P.L. 2019, c. 075, (C.26:6C-4, C.26:6C-11) the multidisciplinary committee operates within the New Jersey Department of Health and focuses on these core activities:

  1. Conduct comprehensive, multidisciplinary reviews by performing in-depth assessments of all maternal deaths statewide, regardless of the cause of death, to uncover underlying causes and contributing factors and develop action-oriented recommendations to avert future deaths.
  2. Secure access to critical data and records by gaining access to essential clinical and non-clinical data sources pertinent to maternal healthcare and services received before, during, and after pregnancy. This comprehensive access allows the NJMMRC to conduct a holistic and thorough review of each maternal death.
  3. Host family conversations by conversing with families and relevant support persons who consent to participate in the discussion, which allows the review team to gain insights into the circumstances surrounding each maternal death outside of the medical records and reports. This process further humanizes the case and offers the patient’s voice.
  4. Ensure strict confidentiality by maintaining rigorous legal protections to safeguard the confidentiality of all data, records, and findings, upholding the privacy and trust of those involved.

In collaboration with the other state agencies and stakeholders, the NJMMRC aims to:

  • Analyze causes and contributing factors to mortality by delving into the root causes and contributing factors of maternal deaths to inform prevention strategies.
  • Identify trends and gaps in maternal care by recognizing emerging issues to target areas needing improvement related to maternal health in NJ.
  • Recommend action-driven priorities by providing data-informed, actionable recommendations that call for changes and systematic improvements of maternal care across provider, facility, community, and system-level interventions in NJ.

 

MMRC Action Cycle

MMRC Action Cycle

MMRC Action Cycle developed by CDC Enhancing Reviews to Eliminate Maternal Mortality (ERASE-MM)

The Maternal Mortality Review Committee (MMRC) Action Cycle identifies the five major steps that all MMRCs use in order to conduct their case review process. The steps are:

  1. Case Identification: The MMRC analyst works to identify cases of pregnancy-associated mortality through matching maternal death, birth certificate, and fetal death certificate records. Additional sources of data that are used to complete case identification include hospital discharge data, the Perinatal Risk Assessment, news/media reports, and medical examiner reports.
  2. Selection: Once the final list of cases is identified, the nurse abstraction team selects how the cases will be presented based on the volume of records needed for abstraction and the number of cases that can be reviewed within two years of the woman’s date of death.
  3. Abstraction: A team of nurses uses all available records to produce a summary of the events leading up to a woman’s demise.
  4. Review: The MMRC reviews all pregnancy-associated deaths, regardless of the cause of death, to identify circumstances leading to a woman’s death and make recommendations on best actions to prevent similar deaths from happening in the future.
  5. Review to Action: Information from review meetings is synthesized into data products that help inform best practices and current maternal mortality data.

 

NJMMRC Data

Every maternal death is a tragedy, and most are preventable. The NJMMRC reviews all pregnancy-related deaths in New Jersey to understand how and why they happen, and what can be done to prevent them.

This dashboard presents findings from those reviews. Use it to explore trends in maternal mortality across race, ethnicity, cause of death, and other factors. The data reflect the Committee's ongoing commitment to transparency and to building a New Jersey where every person survives and thrives through pregnancy and beyond.

VIEW NJMMRC DASHBOARD

 


NJMMRC Mock Case Review

This mock case review gives insight into the overview and process of the NJ Maternal Mortality Review Committee. This mock case features a fictitious hemorrhage case review and committee recommendations for averting future deaths.

MMRC Reports

 

Committee Members

The NJMMRC is composed of a multidisciplinary team of 24 members, including 4 ex-officio members and 20 public members who serve member terms in alignment with P.L. 2019, c75. The Committee reviews all pregnancy-associated deaths of persons with an indication of pregnancy up to 365 days, regardless of cause of death.

 

 

National Resources

 

State Resources