Partnership to Support Healthcare Access for Black Mothers Through App

A partnership between UnitedHealth Group and Morehouse School of Medicine (MSM) aims to address maternal health disparities by leveraging a mobile app to assist Black mothers struggling to obtain postpartum care.

According to the press release, the US has an extremely high maternal death rate relative to other developed nations. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention noted that around 700 women nationwide die annually due to pregnancy complications. Additionally, since 2005, racial health disparities have grown in maternal health, with Black women being three times more likely to die as a result of pregnancy than White women.

Most commonly occurring during delivery or within one year postpartum, deaths related to pregnancy often relate to cardiovascular issues or infections, 60 percent of which are deemed preventable, the press release noted.

To combat this issue, UnitedHealth Group and MSM have launched a mobile health application for new Black mothers in Georgia. 

MSM worked alongside Georgia Tech, Emory University, and Georgia State University to create the app known as Preventing Maternal Mortality Using Mobile Technology (PM3). This app aims to assist Black mothers in connecting with other mothers to obtain health information and social support.

People affiliated with Optum and UnitedHealthcare have volunteered to spread the word about PM3 and help recruit mothers through the Optum Social Responsibility Pro Bono Program.

Further, the Optum team will support the Georgia universities in conducting a study to assess the efficacy of the app in addressing maternal health disparities.

“Georgia has the nation’s second-highest rate of maternal mortality, which disproportionately affects Black women and women who live in rural areas. Because Black women are more likely to use mobile phones to search for health information, we developed a mobile health app intervention that responds to their needs,” said Natalie D. Hernandez, PhD, executive director of MSM's Center for Maternal Health Equity, Rasheeta Chandler, PhD, an associate professor at Emory University's nursing school, and Andrea Parker, PhD, an associate professor at Georgia Tech School of Interactive Computing, in a press release.

“PM3 was created by Black women for Black women and provides culturally relevant resources and information to eliminate barriers to equitable postpartum healthcare. We created a health intervention that was informed and desired by Black moms. We want them to know we see them, we hear them, and we are them,” they continued in the joint statement.

Providers are increasingly employing virtual care technologies to improve maternal health outcomes.

In January, Northwell Health released a chatbot to lower morbidity and mortality rates among pregnant women. Known as Northwell Health Pregnancy Chats, this resource aims to educate patients and identify urgent concerns.

The app's features include health risk assessments, blood pressure tracking, prenatal testing, birth plans, and lactation support. Following a pilot program, researchers determined that 96 percent of patients reported satisfaction with the tool and that it successfully identified issues that required immediate attention.

Also, a study published in July 2022 found that telehealth use in maternal healthcare has led to positive clinical outcomes along with high patient satisfaction levels.

Researchers reached this conclusion after reviewing previous studies of randomized controlled trials and observational studies. They found that patient-reported outcomes from telehealth were just as good as, if not better than, in-person maternal healthcare, particularly when treating conditions related to mental health, general maternal care, and diabetes amid pregnancy.