Mama Certified Launches, Provides Transparency and Accountability in Black Maternal Healthcare
Parents will now have more information than ever when choosing care for them and their baby. Mama Certified, a first-of-its-kind certification focused on advancing maternal health equity for Black families, has made public comprehensive reports detailing maternal and infant health data, in addition to maternal equity-related improvement plans, for all four hospital systems with birthing facilities in Cincinnati: The Christ Hospital Health Network, Mercy Health, TriHealth and UC Health.
Developed in partnership with Cradle Cincinnati, The Health Collaborative, Queens Village, local birthing hospitals and Black mothers, Mama Certified is designed to provide Black parents-to-be with a meaningful way to assess and understand the maternal-related initiatives of Hamilton County’s hospital networks. This innovative certification program, supported by funding from bi3, Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield Foundation and CareSource, 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 and infant care were made available to the community today.
“Mama Certified places Black women at the forefront of conversations around maternal health and empowers us to make informed choices about our care. It helps Black families understand that our local hospital systems are aware of the racial disparities in maternal and infant health and are ready to put in the work to hear us and ultimately save us and our children.”
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.
“Our local birthing hospitals’ commitment to transparency and their accountability to Black women is groundbreaking. We are deeply grateful for their willingness to work towards maternal health equity. In the end, we want women of all races and ethnicities to have joyful birthing experiences.”
The release of the Mama Certified badges is one key step in our region’s ongoing commitment to maternal and infant health equity. In addition to badge recognition, hospitals are engaging directly with Black women, either by forming advisory boards or collaborating with Queens Village, to develop tailored strategies for achieving their healthcare goals.
“Mama Certified is bringing competing health systems together, helping to build trust and transparency in the community. By inspiring birthing health systems to work together, Mama Certified has the potential to put Greater Cincinnati at the forefront of positive maternal and infant health outcomes.”
Families can visit www.mamacertified.org to review each hospital’s report and learn about their initiatives to improve care for Black birthing people.