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Leveraging the Massachusetts perinatal quality collaborative to address the COVID-19 pandemic among diverse
Katherine Sullivan1, Mandy B Belfort2, Patrice Melvin3
1Department of Pediatrics, UMass Memorial Health Center, UMass Memorial Medical School, Worcester, MA, USA. Katherine.Sullivan@umassmemorial.org.
Objective:
We leveraged the Massachusetts perinatal quality collaborative (PQC) to address the COVID-19 pandemic. Our goals were to: (1) implement perinatal practices thought to reduce mother-to-infant SARS-CoV-2 transmission while limiting disruption of health-promoting practices and (2) do so without inequities attributable to race/ethnicity, language status, and social vulnerability.
Methods:
Main outcomes were cesarean and preterm delivery, rooming-in, and breastfeeding. We examined changes over time overall and according to race/ethnicity, language status, and social vulnerability from 03/20-07/20 at 11 hospitals.
Results:
Of 255 mothers with SARS-CoV-2, 67% were black or Hispanic and 47% were non-English speaking. Cesarean decreased (49% to 35%), while rooming-in (55% to 86%) and breastfeeding (53% to 72%) increased. These changes did not differ by race/ethnicity, language, or social vulnerability.
Conclusions:
Leveraging the Massachusetts PQC led to rapid changes in perinatal care during the COVID-19 crisis in a short time, representing a novel use of statewide PQC structures.
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