Maternal Health: Beyond the Numbers
By Jennifer Perkins

HollierMatHealthCong2018As the Texas House of Representatives’ Select Committee on Opioids and Substance Abuse continues to delve into the epidemic of overdoses, TMA members Lisa Hollier, MD, and Manda Hall, MD, are keeping the focus on maternal mortality and morbidity.

Both physicians lead the state’s Maternal Mortality and Morbidity Task Force, which has been studying key factors behind maternal overdoses, including specific drugs involved, demographics of those at risk, and areas where overdoses have occurred. Dr. Hollier (left) is president-elect of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, and Dr. Hall serves as associate commissioner for community health improvement at the Texas Health and Human Services Commission.

Three weeks after TMA’s Maternal Health Congress, and after recent shocking revelations that Texas’ data reporting was significantly flawed, Drs. Hollier and Hall testified at the committee hearing at the Capitol on Tuesday about the ongoing data cleanup and, more importantly, where Texas goes from here.

According to data the physicians presented to lawmakers, there were 382 confirmed maternal deaths in Texas between 2012 and 2015. Of those: 

  • 64 were caused by overdose, the leading cause of maternal death;
  • 49 overdoses happened more than 61 days after giving birth;
  • 42 involved a combination of drugs; and
  • 37 involved opioids. 

The data also showed that women most at risk for maternal overdose were white, over 40, living in the Panhandle or Metroplex, and covered by Medicaid during delivery.

East Texas, central Texas, and the Houston area had the lowest rates of drug overdose-related maternal deaths for 2012-2015, the data show. 


Last Updated On

April 19, 2018

Originally Published On

April 18, 2018