NY State Department of Health Commissioner Dr. James McDonald Served as Keynote Speaker 

Brooklyn, N.Y. (September 30, 2024) – Maimonides Health hosted its second annual Maternal and Neonatal Morbidity Reduction Symposium on Monday, September 23, featuring New York State Health Commissioner Dr. James McDonald as the keynote speaker. The symposium included a day of seminars from distinguished health officials on several maternal and infant health topics, such as birth equity, decreasing maternal morbidity, perinatal mood and anxiety disorders, and nutrition.
“Maimonides Health has a deep commitment to every member of our community, and that includes every mother and child,” Maimonides Health President and CEO Ken Gibbs said. “We have long invested in providing services during the crucial time between pregnancy and the toddler years and have worked with the New York State Department of Health and community-based organizations to address racial disparities in birth outcomes. While we have made progress, there is still a great deal of work to be done.”

Maimonides is one of the state’s 17 Regional Perinatal Centers, which provide the highest level of perinatal care and operate Neonatal Intensive Care Units (NICUs). Maimonides Health also offers a free doula program and a midwifery program, which improve outcomes and maternal experience.

“Health disparities have caused devastating harm to people who give birth and to infants, and that is unacceptable,” State Health Commissioner Dr. James McDonald said. “I’m grateful to have been involved in open and honest discussions about these issues, it’s another step in empowering communities, improving health outcomes and eliminating health disparities. I thank Maimonides Health for hosting such an important forum and for all their exceptional work to improve infant and maternal health across the State.”

In New York state, Black people who give birth are five times more likely to die from pregnancy-related causes than white people who give birth. Most pregnancy-related deaths are preventable. The infant mortality rate in NYS declined 12%, from 4.36 deaths per 1,000 live births in 2016 to 3.85 deaths per 1,000 live births in 2019, but disparities still exist. In 2019, the infant mortality rate for Black non-Hispanic infants was 2.8 times higher than that of White non-Hispanic infants and 2.5 times higher than Hispanic infants. Black non-Hispanic infants were 2.6 times more likely to die compared to White non-Hispanic infants in Upstate New York and 3.2 times as likely to die in Downstate New York. During both the neonatal (first month of life) and post-neonatal (one month through one year of life) periods, non-Hispanic Black infants were more likely to die compared to other racial/ethnic groups.

At a time when the nation is facing a shortage of pediatricians and pediatric specialists, Maimonides has invested in clinical services that focus on the first 1,000 days of our youngest patients and their families. Through a collaboration between our OB/GYN, pediatric, neonatal intensive care unit (NICU), and behavioral health teams, we offer Brooklyn’s more than 600,000 children a support system that focuses on their social, emotional, developmental, and physical well-being. Maimonides provides wraparound care for both parents and kids, with a focus on conception to age two – a critical period for brain development that can help shape a child’s health over their lifetime. Services also include universal screenings for unmet social needs (food, housing, education, etc.), used to connect families to care management and community resources.

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