Topic: MMRC Report 

Maternal Mortality Review Committees (MMRCs) are considered the gold standard for maternal mortality surveillance because they use a multidisciplinary review process, draw on multiple data sources, and assess pregnancy-relatedness, preventability, and contributing factors. This presentation summarizes findings from Minnesota’s Maternal Mortality Review Committee Five-Year Report (2017–2021). It focuses on the top three causes of pregnancy-related deaths and highlights strategies to reduce preventable maternal deaths.

Session Objectives: 

1. Describe the purpose and structure of Maternal Mortality Review Committees (MMRCs) and explain why MMRC findings are considered the gold standard for state‑based maternal mortality data.
2. Analyze key findings related to pregnancy‑related and pregnancy‑associated deaths in Minnesota, including major causes of death and examining contributing clinical, social, and systems‑level factors.
3. Identify evidence‑informed strategies to reduce maternal mortality in Minnesota and apply this information to prioritize actionable steps for healthcare stakeholders and systems.

Presenter: 

• Jennifer Almanza, DNP, APRN, CNM | HealthPartners

Topic: Substance Use

This presentation will explore how we make recommendations that will help patients prevent alcohol exposure during pregnancy. We will discuss screening for alcohol use in pregnancy and how to help support families to discontinue or minimize alcohol exposure during pregnancy. Participants will learn how to best support families affected by alcohol exposure by understanding the diagnosis of FASD (fetal alcohol syndrome disorders) and how to treat children and families with the diagnosis. Finally, we will discuss screening a case, including exposure and the support provided to the patient and her family. The session will emphasize nonjudgmental language and care coordination.

Session Objectives: 

1. Examine how we can prevent alcohol exposure in pregnancy and screen for alcohol use in pregnancy.
2. Understand the diagnosis of fetal alcohol syndrome disorders.
3. Identify strategies to support families affected by alcohol exposure in pregnancy.

Presenter: 

• Adrienne Richardson, MD | HealthPartners
• Paige Jablonski, PsyD, LP | Proof Alliance

Topic: Perinatal Mental Health

Postpartum psychosis is a rare but severe psychiatric emergency characterized by atypical presentations and rapidly fluctuating symptoms that are frequently overlooked or misdiagnosed. This session focuses on sharpening diagnostic accuracy and navigating the complexities of acute management. Through a case-based approach, we will explore the critical window for intervention to ensure the safety of both the parent and the infant.

Session Objectives: 

1. Differentiate the clinical presentation of postpartum psychosis from other perinatal mood disorders.
2. Analyze a treatment approach algorithm for the acute management of postpartum psychosis.
3. Formulate a setting-specific response plan to effectively manage the stabilization and safety of a patient with postpartum psychosis.

Presenter: 

• Tolu Odebunmi, MBBS, MPH | University of Minnesota

Topic: Postpartum Contraception

Due to a variety of socioeconomic factors, up to 40% of patients do not return for their 6-week postpartum visit, where they might otherwise receive a desired form of contraception, and up to 75% of patients who plan to use an IUD postpartum do not obtain it. Moreover, 40% of women will ovulate before the routine 6-week postpartum visit and up to 57% of women report being sexually active before that time. These factors may contribute to shorter interpregnancy intervals, which are associated with increased risk of adverse maternal and neonatal outcomes, and makes offering immediate postpartum LARC as part of the full array of contraceptive options a worthwhile strategy for increasing positive outcomes for women and their families.

This presentation is an excerpt from a hands-on clinical training provided at no cost to participating institutions by the Postpartum Contraceptive Access Initiative (PCAI) within the ACOG Foundation – the charitable arm of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. Our mission is to ensure that all women have access to the full range of postpartum contraceptive methods before leaving the hospital after a delivery. This can result in patients obtaining their desired contraceptive method and birth spacing while also having higher satisfaction and continuation rates with their choice of postpartum contraception.

Session Objectives: 

1. State the importance of and options for postpartum contraception.
2. Discuss the efficacy and safety of immediate postpartum LARC.
3. Explain the shared decision-making model for contraceptive counseling.

Presenter: 

• Matthew Zerden, MD, MPH | His Choice Health Durham Chapel Hill; Planned Parenthood South Atlantic, ACOG

Details coming soon!

Topic: Congenital Infections

Despite declining rates of early-stage syphilis in adults, congenital syphilis continues to rise at an alarming pace, reaching 49.1 cases per 100,000 live births in Minnesota in 2025, up from 10.2 per 100,000 in 2016. This session examines Minnesota Department of Health surveillance data, enhanced case review findings from 2023–2025, and real-world clinical experience to understand why preventable cases persist and what providers across care settings can do to reverse this trend.

Participants will explore how gaps in prenatal care access, late or missed syphilis testing, and systemic barriers, including homelessness, substance use, mental health comorbidities, and incarceration, all drive preventable outcomes including stillbirth, neonatal death, and lifelong disability. The session highlights the disproportionate burden borne by American Indian, Black/African American, and Hispanic communities, while emphasizing that no patient population is exempt: 25% of maternal cases involved White mothers and 11% held professional degrees, underscoring the necessity of universal and not risk-based screening.

Practical content includes the critical role of emergency departments and family medicine settings in universal syphilis screening, the economic case for early diagnosis and prenatal treatment (a $5–$20 test and a course of penicillin versus tens of thousands of dollars in neonatal hospitalization), and emerging treatment options. Designed for a multidisciplinary perinatal audience, this session offers actionable, evidence-based strategies to close care gaps through compassionate, non-stigmatizing, and universally applied prenatal care.

Session Objectives: 

1. Describe current trends in congenital syphilis rates in Minnesota and analyze prenatal care and testing gaps most strongly associated with preventable adverse outcomes, including stillbirth, neonatal morbidity and mortality, and long-term disabilities.
2. Justify the use of universal syphilis screening applied without regard to perceived risk factors for all pregnant patients presenting in any care setting, including emergency departments and family medicine clinics, using surveillance data and cost-effectiveness evidence.
3. Develop practical, patient-centered strategies to initiate and complete syphilis treatment during pregnancy and apply principles of non-stigmatizing care to improve engagement among patients experiencing homelessness, substance use, or mental health conditions.

Presenter: 

• Stephen Contag, MD | University of Minnesota

Details coming soon!

Details coming soon!

Topic: Congenital Infections

Congenital cytomegalovirus (cCMV) is the most common congenital infection in the United States, affecting approximately 1 in 200 births, more frequently than Down syndrome, spina bifida, and fetal alcohol syndrome combined. Yet most pregnant patients have never heard of it, and more than half of obstetric providers report never counseling patients about cCMV prevention. This silence has consequences: cCMV is the leading non-genetic cause of sensorineural hearing loss in children, and 18% of infected infants develop long-term disabilities, including hearing loss, developmental delay, vision impairment, and microcephaly.

This session examines the burden of cCMV through national prevalence data, Minnesota-specific newborn screening findings, and published economic analyses, including lifetime costs exceeding $400,000 per child with hearing loss and mean birth hospitalization costs of $149,000 for commercially insured infants. Participants will explore why prenatal testing is diagnostically complex, what current guidelines do and do not recommend, and how Minnesota became the first state in the nation to launch universal cCMV newborn screening in 2023.

Most importantly, this session offers a practical path forward: evidence-based prevention counseling focused on simple hygiene behaviors that a motivated pregnant patient can implement immediately and that a provider can deliver in under two minutes. Designed for a multidisciplinary perinatal audience including OB/GYNs, family medicine physicians, midwives, and pediatricians, this session translates a complex clinical topic into actionable steps that can protect infants’ hearing and neurodevelopment before birth.

Session Objectives: 

1. Identify the prevalence, sequelae, and economic burden of congenital CMV infection in the United States and Minnesota and describe the knowledge gaps among obstetric providers and pregnant patients that contribute to preventable cases.
2. Apply an understanding of the diagnostic limitations of CMV serologic testing, including the roles of IgG avidity, IgM interpretation, and current ACOG guidance to inform appropriate clinical testing decisions in pregnant patients with risk factors or concerning symptoms.
3. Select evidence-based prevention counseling strategies to deliver at the first prenatal visit, including specific hygiene behaviors shown to reduce maternal CMV acquisition, and identify patients at highest risk who warrant targeted counseling.

Presenter: 

• Stephen Contag, MD | University of Minnesota

Topic: Obstetrical Hypertension

Hypertensive disorders of pregnancy (HDP) remain a leading cause of maternal morbidity and mortality, particularly within the first year postpartum, and are associated with substantially increased lifetime cardiovascular risk. The postpartum period represents a critical opportunity to improve maternal outcomes, however, significant gaps remain in provider knowledge, care coordination, and patient access to evidence-based postpartum care.

This Project ECHO series is designed to equip healthcare providers with the knowledge and practical skills needed to optimize postpartum care for individuals affected by HDP from the maternal-fetal medicine (MFM) perspective. Through interactive case-based learning, participants will gain a comprehensive understanding of current evidence-based recommendations, strategies for postpartum blood pressure management, recognition of warning signs requiring urgent evaluation, patient counseling, approaches to reducing inequities in follow-up care, and ideas for postpartum care transitions. Special emphasis will be placed on multidisciplinary collaboration, patient engagement, and longterm cardiovascular risk reduction strategies.

By bringing together specialists and community-based professionals in a collaborative learning environment, this ECHO aims to strengthen the continuum of care, improve implementation of best practices, and ultimately reduce preventable maternal complications both in the short and longterm.

Session Objectives: 

1. Describe evidence-based postpartum management of patients with hypertensive disorders of pregnancy (HDP), including postpartum blood pressure monitoring, antihypertensive therapy, and recognition of postpartum complications requiring urgent evaluation.
2. Apply effective patient counseling and care coordination strategies that support recommended postpartum follow-up after HDP including care transitions and cardiovascular risk assessment.
3. SelIdentify the complementary roles of healthcare providers and community health workers in addressing social determinants of health, improving patient engagement, and reducing inequities in postpartum outcomes following hypertensive disorders of pregnancy.

Presenter: 

• Bethany Sabol, MD, MAS | University of Minnesota, M Health Fairview

Details coming soon!