Hospitals brace for more high-risk pregnancies

Hospitals and health systems are preparing for a rise in high-risk pregnancies, even as many labor and delivery units shut down. 

Vizient company Sg2 projected that the proportion of high-risk pregnancies will accelerate alongside a rise in obesity-related comorbidities, including high blood pressure and diabetes. 

Baptist Medical Center Jacksonville, part of Jacksonville, Fla.-based Baptist Health, is expanding its labor and delivery services in preparation for a 14.5% increase in high-risk pregnancies over the next decade, NPR affiliate WUSF reported Aug. 14. 

The conundrum is this: Multiple health systems and hospitals are ending labor and delivery services, citing a decrease in birth rates, financial challenges and a workforce shortage. And although the national birth rate is declining, neonatal ICU admissions are increasing.

There are a few factors contributing to the trend, including better survival rates of premature infants, an advancing maternal age and a rise in chronic maternal conditions. 

In response to this trend, a different system of the same name, Little Rock, Ark.-based Baptist Health, announced in June an effort to improve maternal and children health outcomes for high-risk pregnancies. The initiative is Nashville, Tenn.-based Vanderbilt University’s Maternal Infant Health Outreach Worker Program, which targets economically disadvantaged and geographically isolated communities. 

To be eligible for monthly home visits, support groups and other program services, women must be diagnosed with a high-risk pregnancy. The program helps women get assessed for the diagnosis.

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