Hamilton County Birthing Hospitals Achieve Top Recognition from Mama Certified for Work Advancing Maternal Health Equity
In just its second year, all four hospital systems with birthing facilities in Cincinnati were awarded the top recognition of Leader badges through Mama Certified, a first-of-its-kind certification focused on advancing maternal health equity for Black families. Mama Certified has made public comprehensive reports detailing maternal and infant health data, in addition to maternal equity-related improvement plans, for The Christ Hospital Health Network, Mercy Health, TriHealth and UC Health. This year also marks the introduction of the Community Care badge, with all hospitals earning Leader badges in this category.
Developed in partnership with Cradle Cincinnati, The Health Collaborative, Queens Village, and local Black mothers, Mama Certified is designed to provide Black parents-to-be with a meaningful way to assess and understand the maternal health-related initiatives of Hamilton County’s hospital networks. This certification program further encourages and advocates for increased hospital efforts to ensure that Black birthing people and their babies receive respectful care.
Under Mama Certified, hospital systems are assessed and earn badges annually for their efforts across four areas: Maternal Care, Infant Care, Staff Care and Community Care. Hospitals earn a percentage of total points available in each focus area and are awarded an Ally level once they achieve 50% of the available points, an Advocate level at 70% and a Leader level at 90%. Progress and results for Maternal Care, Infant Care and Community Care are now available online.
“Over this past year, our community has built the foundation for ensuring that Black women receive respectful care in our birthing hospitals. We are deeply grateful to our hospital partners for saying ‘yes’ — for listening to Black women, increasing transparency and accountability in maternal and infant healthcare, and working toward equitable health outcomes for all mothers. Their commitment is helping to create a shared vision of health for Black mothers and babies in our region.”
Since Mama Certified launched in February 2024:
More than 1,500 Greater Cincinnati hospital staff have been trained in Mama Certified
Four Queens Village hospital advisory boards have launched, bringing together Black women from the community and hospital leaders to co-design solutions that improve the hospital birthing experience
More than 240 postpartum mothers have provided feedback to Mama Certified on their birthing experiences
42 hospital staff and 11 Black women from the community engaged in the development of Mama Certified
Mama Certified was developed in response to significant racial disparities in maternal mortality and infant mortality in the region. Black moms are 2.5 times more likely to die during childbirth and nearly three times more likely to experience infant loss in Ohio than any other race, regardless of education and socioeconomic factors.
Families can visit www.mamacertified.org to review each hospital’s report and learn about their initiatives to improve care for Black birthing people.