The statistics are shocking. Black women in the United States are twice as likely as White women to experience a serious problem in labor or delivery, and three to four times as likely to die from pregnancy-related causes.

No matter where in the country a Black woman lives, and no matter what her age or her income level, she’s in greater danger before, during and after delivery than her White neighbor. This is a national crisis — and we cannot allow this disparity to continue.

That’s why Northwell Health is launching the Maternal Outcomes and Morbidity Collaborative (MOMS), an initiative that puts the full force of the health system to work in order to eliminate disparate outcomes and make childbirth safer for everyone.

Addressing health issues for more than nine months

Experts know that by the time labor begins, it’s too late to head off some of the most serious problems that women experience in pregnancy. So MOMS is focusing on care before conception, during pregnancy and through the “fourth trimester” — the 12 weeks after delivery.

One key is to make sure every woman has the opportunity to discuss and understand her potential risks. That’s crucial, because most women in the US start their pregnancy with some risk factors, whether they know it or not. They may have diabetes or asthma, for instance, or they may have had a previous c-section or be significantly overweight. For these women, awareness and treatment can make all the difference. To that end, MOMS ensures that every future mother receives a thorough assessment of factors that may put her at risk for problems, and that a patient-centered plan is put in place to optimize her wellness throughout and after pregnancy.

Here’s an example. If a first-time mom has high blood pressure, it raises the risk that she’ll develop preeclampsia, one of the leading causes of maternal death in the world. Black women are known to be more likely to develop the problem. Simply taking a daily baby aspirin cuts the risk of preeclampsia, or at least helps delay it enough to limit its damage, yet this easy intervention is often overlooked.

Even when this lifesaving drug is suggested, a pregnant patient may be reluctant if she doesn’t hear a candid discussion about why it is so important. MOMS will assess all pregnant women for their risk of preeclampsia and make sure they have both access to help and the support necessary to make an informed choice.

MOMS also enlists specialists across the health system to help address even the most complex problems women can encounter on their way to giving birth. For instance, cardiomyopathy — a disorder of the heart muscle that makes it harder for it to pump effectively — is a major cause of maternal morbidity and mortality for Black women.

Northwell has launched a Cardio-Obstetrics program to address the needs of this growing but sometimes hidden population of women at risk. The MOMS collaborative also includes pulmonologists, psychologists, hematologists and others across Northwell in order to meet the comprehensive needs of women throughout this vulnerable period.

Getting women the resources they need

One of our most important partnerships is with Health Solutions, Northwell’s care management organization. Health Solutions’ navigation teams, made up of nurse practitioners, registered nurses and resource coordinators, help identify women with complex needs during pregnancy and connect them to the care that will keep them healthy and well.

One of the keys to success is a proactive approach: We continuously run data and analytics to identify moms who would benefit from services in order to head off harm before it can occur. These services can include everything from simplifying appointment scheduling to providing lactation advice and support or connecting depressed moms with urgent tele-behavioral health services.

Core to the work of these teams is an assessment of our patients’ social and economic challenges, because those can impact their health. If a woman is food-insecure, lacks transportation to a medical appointment or has trouble paying for a prescription, a care manager will connect her to resources and provide support. These issues are often neglected in pregnancy care, but addressing them should be just as routine as keeping the delivery room antiseptic — anything less is a failure of care.

Bringing down barriers to communication

Pregnancy is a 24-hour-a-day proposition, and we want to stay connected to women for as much of that time as possible. So MOMS is rolling out an AI-based chatbot that will check in via frequent automated conversations. The platform is fully responsive: If a woman’s answers to the chatbot’s questions raise a red flag, a care manager will call within minutes to follow up.

We’re also focused on making our human-to-human conversations more, well, human. Northwell has implicit bias training programs in place for the entire OB-GYN team for both the outpatient offices and hospital services, because studies have shown that even the most well-intentioned practitioners can make assumptions and form judgments without being aware of it. Specific strategies can help prevent those biases from interfering with the excellent care we want to provide.

Racial disparities in maternal morbidity and mortality is one of the central issues in health care today, and Northwell is in a prime position to tackle it: We delivered nearly 32,000 babies last year, making our labor and delivery units among the busiest in the country, and we’re located in one of the most diverse communities in the nation. By harnessing all the resources of the health system and rethinking pregnancy care from before conception to after birth, MOMS will help us make pregnancy and childbirth safer for women in the communities we serve.

Michael Nimaroff, MD, is senior vice president and executive director of OB-GYN services at Northwell Health.

Adriann Combs, DNP, is clinical director of OB-GYN services at Northwell Health.

Zenobia Brown, MD, is the medical director of Northwell Health Solutions and vice president of Population Health Care Management.