New Hampshire Alliance for Innovation on Maternal Health (AIM) & ERASE Maternal Mortality Projects
For questions or additional information regarding these initiatives, please feel free to contact us: NNEPQIN@hitchcock.org or 603-653-6898
Table of contents
- Alliance for Innovation on Maternal Health (AIM)
- NH AIM FOCUS
- ERASE Maternal Mortality
- New Hampshire Maternal Mortality Review Process
Alliance for Innovation on Maternal Health (AIM)
- National data-driven maternal safety and quality improvement initiative
- Works to reduce preventable maternal mortality and severe morbidity
- AIM works to promote respectful care for all birthing persons, and eliminate disparities in perinatal outcomes
AIM aligns national, state and hospital level improvement efforts
- AIM works with state health departments, Perinatal Quality Collaboratives, hospitals, community-based teams and patient representatives to address the key drivers of maternal mortality and SMM.
- AIM utilizes patient safety bundles as core building blocks to improve outcomes
AIM uses data to drive improvement strategies
- Timely data drives hospital and perinatal quality collaborative QI activities
- Collaboration with state health departments provides data through vital statistics records and all-payer administrative databases
- AIM defines standard process and outcome measures for members, to increase opportunities for learning
NH AIM FOCUS
New Hampshire AIM Patient Safety Bundles Focus
AIM relies on critical collaborations between State Perinatal Quality Collaboratives (PQCs) and Maternal Mortality Review Committees
New Hampshire AIM will address two core patient safety bundles in 2021
- Opioid overdose is the leading cause of pregnancy associated death in New Hampshire
- Maternal and neonatal outcomes in New Hampshire show the same racial and ethnic disparities which exist nationally
NH-AIM has identified five key initiatives to drive reduction in Substance-related Maternal Mortality and SMM in New Hampshire
AIM/ERASE Maternal Mortality Monthly Webinars
Held the 2nd Thursday of each month from 12 – 1PM
FLYER FOR JANUARY – JUNE 2025 NH AIM/ERASE MM WEBINARS: FINAL 2025 NH AIM Webinars Flyer
2025 WEBINARS:
March 13, 2025 Webinar: “Creating a community-wide approach to perinatal mental health”
Slides: 3.13.25 NH AIM ERASE MM Handout
Recording for CE Credit: https://dh.cloud-cme.com/course/courseoverview?P=0&EID=153023
February 13, 2025 Webinar: “From screening to action: setting the stage for an honest patient discussion”
Slides: 01272025 February 2025 AIM slides
Recording: February 2025 NH AIM ERASE Maternal Mortality Webinar Recording
For viewing for CE Credit: https://dh.cloud-cme.com/course/courseoverview?P=0&EID=153011
January 9, 2025 Webinar: “Clinical pearls to help address common barriers in providing mental health care”
Slides: 1.9.25 NH AIM ERASE MM Webinar Handout
Recording: January 2025 NH AIM/ERASE MM Recording
For viewing for CE Credit: https://dh.cloud-cme.com/course/courseoverview?P=0&EID=148950
2024 WEBINARS:
December 12, 2024 Webinar: “The importance of improving our birth certificate data collection.”
Slides: December AIM slides FINAL handout
Recording: December+2024+NH+AIMERASE+Maternal+Mortality+Webinar Recording
November 14, 2024 Webinar: “A multidisciplinary team approach to more effective discharge planning.”
Slides: November AIM ERASE webinar slide handout
Recording: November 2024 NH AIMERASE Recording
October 10, 2024 Webinar: “Creating comprehensive postpartum support in these challenging times.”
Slides: 10.10.24 NH AIM ERASE MM Webinar Handout
Recording: October 2024 NH AIMERASE Recording
September 12, 2024 Webinar: “Creating comprehensive postpartum support in these challenging times.”
Slides: September 2024 NH AIM Webinar Handout
Recording: September 2024 NH AIM Recording
August 8, 2024 Webinar: Why a comprehensive SDoH assessment improves your ability to address mental health concerns.
Slides: August 2024 NH AIM Webinar Handout
Recording: August 2024 NH AIM Recording
No July 2024 Webinar
June 13, 2024 Webinar: How to find the right consult when you have a client that needs a higher level of care
Slides: June 2024 NH AIM Webinar Handout
Recording: June 2024 NH AIM Recording
May 9, 2024 Webinar: How to provide appropriate mental health treatment in your community to meet your patients’ needs
Slides: May 2024 NH AIM Webinar Handout
Recording: May 2024 NH AIM Recording
April 11, 2024 Webinar: Utilizing the Plan of Safe and Supportive Care (POSC) to demonstrate patient strengths and link them with community based resources
Slides: April 2024 NH AIM ERASE MM Webinar Handout
Recording: April 2024 NH AIM Recording
March 14, 2024 Webinar: What does patient centered mental health care really look like?
Slides: March 2024 NH AIM Webinar Handout
Recording: March 2024 NH AIM Recording
February 8, 2024 Webinar: Creating a process that ensures a positive screen is addressed appropriately
Slides: Feb 2024 NH AIM ERASE Maternal Mortality Webinar Handout
Recording: Feb 2024 NH AIM Recording
January 11, 2024 Webinar: Practical approaches to integrating mental health care from preconception to postpartum
Slides: Jan 2024 NH AIM ERASE MM Webinar Handout
Recording: Jan 2024 NH AIM Webinar Recording
TO VIEW PRIOR NH AIM WEBINARS: https://AIMERASEMM+Webinars/344078862
ERASE Maternal Mortality
CDC ERASE Maternal Mortality Project
Enhancing Reviews and Surveillance to Eliminate Maternal Mortality
The Maternal & Child Health Division of DHHS is working in partnership with NNEPQIN and other state teams and health systems to align national, state, and hospital level quality improvement efforts. Together we will utilize AIM’s framework and structure to improve maternal care and outcomes. The implementation of AIM bundles is central to our work on ERASE MM.
- This funding directly supports agencies and organizations that coordinate and manage Maternal Mortality Review Committees to identify, review, and characterize maternal deaths; and identify prevention opportunities
- Facilitate an understanding of the drivers of maternal mortality and complications of pregnancy and better understand the associated disparities.
- Determine what interventions at patient, provider, facility, system, and community levels will have the most effect.
- Inform the implementation of initiatives in the right places for families and communities who need them most.
AIM/ERASE Maternal Mortality Monthly Webinars
Held the 2nd Thursday of each month from 12 – 1PM
FLYER FOR JANUARY – JUNE 2025 NH AIM/ERASE MM WEBINARS: FINAL 2025 NH AIM Webinars Flyer
2025 WEBINARS:
March 13, 2025 Webinar: “Creating a community-wide approach to perinatal mental health”
Slides: 3.13.25 NH AIM ERASE MM Handout
Recording for CE Credit: https://dh.cloud-cme.com/course/courseoverview?P=0&EID=153023
February 13, 2025 Webinar: “From screening to action: setting the stage for an honest patient discussion”
Slides: 01272025 February 2025 AIM slides
Recording: February 2025 NH AIM ERASE Maternal Mortality Webinar Recording
For viewing for CE Credit: https://dh.cloud-cme.com/course/courseoverview?P=0&EID=153011
January 9, 2025 Webinar: “Clinical pearls to help address common barriers in providing mental health care”
Slides: 1.9.25 NH AIM ERASE MM Webinar Handout
Recording: January 2025 NH AIM/ERASE MM Recording
For viewing for CE Credit: https://dh.cloud-cme.com/course/courseoverview?P=0&EID=148950
2024 WEBINARS:
December 12, 2024 Webinar: “The importance of improving our birth certificate data collection.”
Slides: December AIM slides FINAL handout
Recording: December+2024+NH+AIMERASE+Maternal+Mortality+Webinar Recording
November 14, 2024 Webinar: “A multidisciplinary team approach to more effective discharge planning.”
Slides: November AIM ERASE webinar slide handout
Recording: November 2024 NH AIMERASE Recording
October 10, 2024 Webinar: “Creating comprehensive postpartum support in these challenging times.”
Slides: 10.10.24 NH AIM ERASE MM Webinar Handout
Recording: October 2024 NH AIMERASE Recording
September 12, 2024 Webinar: “Creating comprehensive postpartum support in these challenging times.”
Slides: September 2024 NH AIM Webinar Handout
Recording: September 2024 NH AIM Recording
August 8, 2024 Webinar: Why a comprehensive SDoH assessment improves your ability to address mental health concerns.
Slides: August 2024 NH AIM Webinar Handout
Recording: August 2024 NH AIM Recording
No July 2024 Webinar
June 13, 2024 Webinar: How to find the right consult when you have a client that needs a higher level of care
Slides: June 2024 NH AIM Webinar Handout
Recording: June 2024 NH AIM Recording
May 9, 2024 Webinar: How to provide appropriate mental health treatment in your community to meet your patients’ needs
Slides: May 2024 NH AIM Webinar Handout
Recording: May 2024 NH AIM Recording
April 11, 2024 Webinar: Utilizing the Plan of Safe and Supportive Care (POSC) to demonstrate patient strengths and link them with community based resources
Slides: April 2024 NH AIM ERASE MM Webinar Handout
Recording: April 2024 NH AIM Recording
March 14, 2024 Webinar: What does patient centered mental health care really look like?
Slides: March 2024 NH AIM Webinar Handout
Recording: March 2024 NH AIM Recording
February 8, 2024 Webinar: Creating a process that ensures a positive screen is addressed appropriately
Slides: Feb 2024 NH AIM ERASE Maternal Mortality Webinar Handout
Recording: Feb 2024 NH AIM Recording
January 11, 2024 Webinar: Practical approaches to integrating mental health care from preconception to postpartum
Slides: Jan 2024 NH AIM ERASE MM Webinar Handout
Recording: Jan 2024 NH AIM Webinar Recording
TO VIEW PRIOR NH AIM WEBINARS: https://AIMERASEMM+Webinars/344078862
New Hampshire Maternal Mortality Review Process
Link to NH POSC Website Resources: NH Plans of Safe Care check out the Pregnant and Parenting Services and Supports link and map.
NH Review to Action: https://reviewtoaction.org/content/new-hampshire
New Hampshire Maternal Mortality Legislation (Enacted in January 2010, Section 132:29): NH Maternal Mortality Legislation
To Report a NH Maternal Death: Maternal Mortality Initial Report Letter & Form
2024 Annual MM Report to NH DHHS Legislative Oversight Committee:
Maternal Mortality Report 2024 updated 04072025_FINAL VERSION
2023 Annual MM report to NH DHHS Legislative Oversight Committee:
2023 Annual Report on Maternal Mortality_Revised
2022 Annual MM report to NH DHHS Legislative Oversight Committee:
2022 Annual New Hampshire Report on Maternal Mortality FINAL
2021 Annual MM report to NH DHHS Legislative Oversight Committee:
2021 Annual New Hampshire Report on Maternal Mortality FINAL
2020 Annual MM report to NH DHHS Legislative Oversight Committee:
2020 Annual New Hampshire Report on Maternal Mortality FINAL 10 21 2020
NH MMRC Infographics:
Overview of NH MMRC Infographic 9-27-22 (003)
Suicide MM Infographic 9-27-22
Cardiac MM Infographic 9-27-22
NH MMRC Recommendations:
2018 Case Recommendations
Recommendations -Women of Childbearing Age:
- Enhance outreach to homeless individuals, prioritizing access to women’s services
- Promote standard management of patients with warning signs for substance misuse (ex- early refills), including face to face assessment, screening for presence of substance use disorders, and linkage to SUD treatment services
Recommendations -Prenatal and Post-Partum Care:
- Provide education to healthcare teams to reduce stigma against people who use substances
- Develop statewide provider education materials about hazards of co-prescribing benzodiazepines and opioid agonist medications
- Promote warm handoff from PCP to OB to facilitate engagement in prenatal care
Recommendations- Education for Providers
- Introduce assessment of social determinants needs, case management, and linkage to services directly from ED for patients with substance use disorder (SUD)-related complaints
- Standardize perinatal education for women with OUD about increased risk for overdose after period of abstinence
- Provide naloxone kits at discharge from inpatient stay; standardize postpartum discharge instructions
Past Recommendations Relevant to 2018 Cases
Recommendations – Pregnant Women with History of Substance Use Disorder:
- Harm reduction education for all pregnant patients with a substance use disorder
- Provider education on SHOUT as used in the “Zero Suicide” approach.
- Social workers/ medical personnel utilize immediate access to treatment for SUD using 211
- Provider and patient education about benzodiazepine/ opioid interaction.
Example: Reference information in the Greater Manchester Mental Health brochure
- Promote use of the Northern New England Perinatal Quality Improvement Network’s (NNEPQIN) Substance Use Guidelines.
Example: Consider echocardiogram for patients with injection drug related infection
- Pregnant women who are incarcerated received Medicated Assisted Treatment (MAT)
- Planning and collaboration between prison and community providers for pregnant patients around post- release treatment transition
Recommendations –Women in Recovery in Postpartum Period
- Prioritize keeping mother and baby together in safe environment for both, rather than separation/foster placement.
- Provide access to residential treatment which accepts children as an alternative to separation/foster placement for vulnerable women with complex dual diagnosis
- Provide access to higher level of care (residential care which accepts children) for women who are struggling with complex co-occurring disorders
Recommendations –Public Education
- Provide public education re: importance of prenatal care especially for women who use substances
- Provide public education re: importance of engaging in treatment for SUD for pregnant women
NH Maternal Mortality Review Committee
| Member | Organization |
| Alison Palmer | Women’s Health OBGYN and Psychiatric-Mental Health Nurse Practitioner |
| Allison Power | NH DHHS Perinatal Nurse Coordinator & MMRC Coordinator |
| April Henry | Chair, NH AWHONN & Director, The Family Center,
Center for Reproductive Care & Maternal- Fetal Medicine, Exeter Hospital |
| Benjamin Chan | NH State Epidemiologist, Division of Public Health, NH
Infectious Disease Provider, Dartmouth Health |
| Carolyn Nyamasege | MCH Epidemiologist, Division of Public Health, NH DHHS Section |
| Cheri Breyer | Public Member with Lived Experience & Recovery Coach/CRSW |
| Colleen Whatley | Senior Quality & Safety Specialist, DH & MMRC Recommendations Facilitator |
| Courtney Jones | Ob/Gyn & Medical Director, Women and Children’s Services, Concord Hospital |
| DaNae Belt | Nurse Manager, Labor & Delivery Unit, Elliot Hospital |
| Emily Baker | Maternal Fetal Medicine, Dartmouth Health |
| Emily Brayton | Perinatal Outreach Nurse, NNEPQIN & Dartmouth Health |
| Jennifer Vallier | Community Health Worker, Elliot Hospital |
| Jess Bacon | Chair, NH ACNM & Nursing Practice Specialist Wentworth Douglass Hosp |
| Johanna Cobb | Medical Director of Obstetric Anesthesia, Dartmouth Health |
| Julia Frew | Psychiatrist and Addiction Medicine Physician, Dartmouth Health |
| Julie Bosak | CNM & Executive Director, NNEPQIN/NH PQC, DH Population Health |
| Kerry Norton | Director, Hope on Haven Hill |
| Kiera Latham | New England High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area, Overdose Response Strategist |
| Kimberly Koschek | Perinatal Social Worker, Catholic Medical Center |
| Kris Hering | NH Foundation for Healthy Communities, Vice President of Quality Improvement |
| Kristen Kraunelis | Mental Health Center of Greater Manchester |
| Nicole Robbins | NH Bureau of Drug and Alcohol Services, NH DHHS |
| Lauren Lessard | Chair of the NH Chapter of ACOG & Obstetrician/ Gynecologist WDH |
| Melissa Devine | Director, Women’s & Children’s Services, Concord Hospital |
| Mitchell Weinberg | Deputy Chief Medical Examiner, NH OCME |
| Petrice DiDominic | Maternal Mortality Case Abstractor & Perinatal Outreach RN, Dartmouth Health |
| Rhonda Siegel | NH MCH, DHHS Maternal and Child Health Section/Title V Director |
| Sue Watkins | Chief Forensic Investigator, NH OCME |
| Suzanne Lamontagne | NH Division of Program Quality and Integrity, DHHS Sentinel Review Committee |
| Victoria Flanagan | DH NNEPQIN Director of Operations |
| Wanda Joshi | Obstetrical Anesthesiologist, Dartmouth Health |
For questions or additional information, please feel free to contact us:
NNEPQIN@hitchcock.org or 603-653-6898
Suicide Prevention Resources:
For suicide loss survivors: https://theconnectprogram.org/find-support/coping-with-suicide-loss/ [theconnectprogram.org]
Free training for physicians to talk with families about firearms and safety in the home:
For additional information and support, please contact:
Amy: aoliva@naminh.org
or Elaine: edemello@naminh.org
at NAMI NH: Home – NAMI NH