Nina Martin's slides from the webinar "America's High Maternal Mortality and What Can Be Done" For info: https://www.centerforhealthjournalism.org/content/america%E2%80%99s-high-maternal-mortality-what-can-be-done

2. Part 1: Understanding the Big
Picture
1. Outreach to maternal health groups
2. Interviews with 30+ near-miss survivors
3. Targeted outreach to black women on
Facebook
4. Interviews with researchers, clinicians & other
experts

3. Patient Advocacy Resources
• Preeclampsia & HELLP syndrome: Preeclampsia Foundation
• AFE: Amniotic Fluid Embolism Foundation
• Hemorrhage & placental issues: National Accreta Foundation &
Hope for Accreta
• Blood clots & pulmonary embolism: National Blood Clot Alliance, The
Shane Foundation & Pregnancy/Postpartum Blood Clots FB group
• Infection: Sepsis Alliance
• Heart-related issues: SCAD Alliance & The Fight Against Peripartum
Cardiomyopathy
• Mental health issues: Postpartum Support International & The Emily Effect
• Life-threatening complications (general): The Unexpected Project &
Maternal Near-Miss Survivors open FB group

4. Part 2: Putting a Face to
Maternal Mortality
• Surprisingly few deaths on Nexis, Google
• Obituaries rarely mention cause of death
• Families are conditioned to see maternal deaths as
private tragedies
• This lets hospitals, regulators, policymakers act as
if there isn’t a problem

5. Surprise: The deaths we did find often didn’t
fit the stereotype

6. The defining question: How does a healthy NICU nurse
die at the hospital where she worked?

7. Key Insights:
• The medical system is often more focused on baby’s
health & safety than mom’s
• Lack of standards/protocols in treating obstetric
emergencies is a major factor in many maternal
deaths & near-deaths
• These systemic problems endanger not just SOME
women but ALL women
• Because maternal deaths are almost invisible,
lessons are lost

8. Aha! moment: Many families use crowdfunding sites
to honor loved ones

9. Part 3: Finding the Lost Mothers

10. Find names on GoFundMe & YouCaring,
verify with obits & Facebook

11. The best tool to monitor recent deaths:
Facebook Signal for journalists

12. To fill in the gaps, ask the community for help

13. Who we found:
160+ Lost Mothers in 2016 alone

14. The really hard part: Persuading loved ones
to tell their story
• Maternal deaths often cause major rifts in families
• Mothers, sisters & other close female relatives are
often more responsive than husbands...
• …But the dead woman’s relatives may not have
complete info
• Many families see the hospital staff as heroes and
won’t want to criticize
• Black families may not want to talk about race

15. What we published in July 2017: 120 names, 50 photos
Oct. 2017 update: 134 names, 54 photos

16. Part 4: What Did We Learn From
the Lost Mothers?
• Postpartum deaths & heart-related fatalities are very
common
• Mental health issues & substance abuse are major
factors in many deaths
• Many deaths are preventable
• Often families never find out what happened
• When a mother dies, many lives are destroyed

17. The Lost Mothers Gallery

18. More Lost Mothers

19. More Lost Mothers

20. Part 5: Lessons for Local Reporters
• Maternal deaths are more than human interest
stories. They’re a public health issue
• Don’t treat maternal deaths as anecdotal leads
• Understand the underlying medical conditions and
the preventability of deaths
• Work extra hard to include women of color — and
give yourself (and their families) extra time

21. Lessons for Local Reporters, cont’d
• Ask: What happened at the hospital? What protocols
were in place to handle a crisis?
• Ask: Was there an autopsy?
• Ask: What is your state’s process for investigating
maternal deaths?
• Ask: If your state has a maternal mortality review
committee, what does it actually do?

22. Lessons for Local Reporters, cont’d
• Find out: How does your community care for
pregnant women and postpartum mothers?
• Understand the sensitivities: race, religion, stigma,
guilt
• In reporting about maternal deaths, also find the
near-misses
• GET THE MEDICAL RECORDS!

23. The Lost Mothers Team
Nina Martin
Nina.Martin@propublica.org
Adriana Gallardo
Adriana.Gallardo@propublica.org
Renee Montagne/NPR
Rmontagne@npr.org
Special thanks to NYU journalism grad students: Emma Cillekens, Alessandra Freitas,
Clare Church, Alexander Gonzalez, Lauren Gurley, Nina Hedevang, Eli Kurland &
Razi Syed
Please share our call-out: Bit.ly/lostmothers