The United States faces an alarming maternal and infant health crisis, carrying one of the highest maternal mortality rates among developed nations. Severe racial disparities compound the problem, with Black mothers experiencing maternal death rates more than double the national average. Alongside physical risks, systemic barriers leave critical issues like postpartum mental health, infant care gaps, and growing public confusion over routine childhood vaccines largely unaddressed.
The Institute of Medicine of Chicago (IOMC) confronts these urgent challenges through focused healthcare leadership, cross-sector advocacy, and community-driven policy reform. In this Executive Q&A, Beena Peters, DNP, RN, FACHE, FABC, FAAN, Vice President of IOMC and Chair of the Maternal & Child Health Workgroup, examines the systemic failures driving these outcomes and details how the upcoming 2nd Maternal & Child Health Symposium aims to translate dialogue into clinical and community action. Dr. Archana Chatterjee, MD, PhD, President of IOMC, shares her comments as a senior leader and as a trained pediatric infectious disease specialist.
Recent data show U.S. maternal mortality hovering around 19 to 20 deaths per 100,000 live births overall, and rising near 50 per 100,000 for Black mothers. How is the 2nd Maternal & Child Health Symposium addressing these stark racial divides and preventable deaths?
Beena Peters: These disparities are not explained by biology alone. They reflect inequities in access, delayed recognition of complications, fragmented care, implicit bias, and the social and structural conditions affecting women before, during, and after pregnancy.
The symposium brings together clinical experts, public health leaders, researchers, educators, and community organizations to examine racial gaps in maternal and infant outcomes and identify practical solutions. We will explore culturally responsive community care, obesity and social determinants of health, and models that improve access to maternal-fetal medicine and other high-risk services.
Our goal is to move beyond describing disparities to implementing and measuring solutions. Health systems must stratify outcomes by race, ethnicity, and geography; identify where delays and failures occur; and partner directly with affected communities to redesign care. Every preventable maternal death must be treated as an urgent patient-safety event requiring accountability and action.
Maternal mental health often remains overlooked until severe crises occur, leaving postpartum depression and psychosis underdiagnosed. How must healthcare systems restructure perinatal care to identify and treat maternal mental health conditions early?
Beena Peters: Maternal mental health must be an essential part of perinatal care, not a separate service offered only after a crisis. Health systems must integrate culturally responsive screening, intervention, and follow-up throughout pregnancy and the entire postpartum year.
Screening alone is not enough. Every positive result must lead to timely clinical intervention through coordinated obstetric, primary care, pediatric, behavioral health, and community-based services. Early identification and compassionate follow-up can prevent crises, protect families, and save lives. Families should also be educated to recognize warning signs, particularly those of postpartum psychosis.
Conflicting guidance and shifting public policies have driven significant confusion around routine childhood and maternal vaccinations. What role must clinicians and public health leaders play to rebuild community trust and maintain critical immunization coverage?
Beena Peters: Clinicians and public health leaders must provide clear, consistent, evidence-based information while creating a safe space for questions. Vaccine conversations should begin early, use understandable language, and address benefits, risks, and uncertainty without judgment. Rebuilding trust also requires partnerships with schools, faith communities, and trusted local voices. Communication must be culturally appropriate, transparent, accessible, and sustained over time
Archana Chatterjee: Despite the erosion of trust in healthcare in recent years, clinicians remain the most trusted source of information for the public. We must ensure that all clinicians are provided with accurate information and the appropriate tools to address vaccine hesitancy. Building community trust will take time and patience, but I believe it will come as we engage with the public and people recognize that healthcare providers are the most knowledgeable and experienced individuals to listen to. The problem for public health is more complex as our infrastructure has been hollowed out and the public has become disenchanted post-pandemic. Once again, time and patience will be needed to rebuild the public’s trust.
The symposium explores intersections between cutting-edge solutions like FemTech and structural interventions such as direct financial support for families. How can health systems ensure modern technological tools actually reach and benefit high-risk populations rather than widen existing gaps?
Beena Peters: Innovation must begin with the needs of mothers and families, not with technology. Health systems must ensure that new solutions are affordable, accessible, culturally responsive, and designed in partnership with high-risk populations and frontline clinicians. We must measure who benefits, who is left behind, and whether outcomes truly improve. Technology can expand access and identify risks earlier, but it cannot stand alone. It requires human oversight and must be connected to essential supports, including transportation, nutrition, housing, childcare, and financial assistance. Innovation is meaningful only when it advances health equity for every mother and family.
Clinicians, policymakers, and grassroots advocates often operate in silos. Why is an interdisciplinary model essential to fixing the fragmented safety net for mothers and infants during the vulnerable postpartum year?
Beena Peters: No single organization can address the complex needs of mothers and infants alone. Clinical care, public policy, mental health services, and community resources must be connected through a coordinated, interdisciplinary model. Clinicians identify risks, policymakers remove systemic barriers, and grassroots advocates bring families' lived experiences and trusted voices. Working together, we can close gaps in care, strengthen accountability, and ensure that no mother is left to navigate the postpartum year alone. Collaboration is essential to transforming a fragmented safety net into a continuous system of support.
What immediate, measurable steps do you want health system leaders and community partners in Illinois to take following this event to drive down maternal morbidity?
Beena Peters: Every organization should leave with one measurable commitment: identify disparities in its maternal outcomes, strengthen screening and referral pathways, partner with community-based programs, and track whether families actually receive needed services.
This symposium is more than a one-day event; it is a call to action. We invite healthcare leaders, clinicians, policymakers, educators, and community members to join the maternal and child health improvement movement. Together, we can turn knowledge into action, accountability, and healthier futures for every mother, infant, and family.
Overcoming the maternal health crisis requires direct accountability, clinical excellence, and deep community alignment. IOMC's insights make it clear that solving systemic disparities demands treating maternal mental health, clinical safety, and preventive care as interconnected priorities rather than isolated challenges.
Protecting mothers and infants requires continuous collaboration across clinical environments, public health departments, and local communities. Through focused initiatives, workgroups, and educational forums, IOMC provides the vital platform required to turn evidence-based strategies into lasting, equitable care delivery.
Since 1915, the Institute of Medicine of Chicago (IOMC) has been an independent nonprofit 501c3 organization of distinguished health leaders who collaborate to improve public health. Drawing upon the expertise of a diverse membership and other regional leaders, the IOMC addresses critical health issues through various interdisciplinary approaches, including education, research, communication of trusted information, and community engagement.
To learn more, visit https://www.iomc.org
Archana Chatterjee, MD, PhD, is President of the Institute of Medicine of Chicago and Fellow; and Dean, Chicago Medical School & Senior Vice President for Medical Affairs, Rosalind Franklin University & Chicago Medical School; and Beena Peters, DNP, RN, FACHE, FABC, FAAN, is Vice President of the Institute of Medicine of Chicago, Fellow, and Chief Clinical Officer, HRTLY.
MBT PG/AM