Maternity Care Honors Given to Alma, Alpena Medical Centers

MyMichigan Medical Centers in Alma and Alpena were two of 14 hospitals honored with a 2024 Maternity Care Award by the Economic Alliance for Michigan (EAM). The award recognizes hospitals throughout Michigan that have demonstrated excellence and improvement in maternity care and delivery outcomes. Hospitals can achieve two different awards, the Excellence Award and the Improvement Award. The two MyMichigan Medical Center locations received the Excellence Award.

“We extend our deepest gratitude to the Economic Alliance for Michigan for this recognition. We take pride in our role in providing essential information to parents-to-be, helping them make informed decisions about their maternity care options,” said Tonia Vanwieren B.S.N., R.N., system nursing director of maternal child and women’s health, MyMichigan Health. “Our teams work so very hard to provide the highest standard of care for mothers and their newborns. In fact, it’s a privilege. Together, we are making strides towards a future where every child and mother can experience the safest and most supportive beginning possible.

The annual EAM Hospital Maternity Care Awards are part of EAM’s Maternity Care Project. Created in 2018, the project goals are to decrease the state’s infant mortality rate, reduce the rate of unnecessary C-sections, and be an educational resource for new and expecting parents residing in Michigan.

The forty-six hospitals with birthing centers that participated in the annual Leapfrog Hospital Survey recorded an overall decrease in unnecessary C-sections by 1.8 percent from the previous year. The Leapfrog Group’s hospital/birthing center standard mark for unnecessary C-sections is 23.6 percent or less of low-risk deliveries. Low-risk is defined as a healthy, first-time mother who carried a single fetus with its head down to 39 weeks gestation. Unnecessary c-sections can increase the risk of hemorrhage, infection, blood clots and transfusions for the mother and increase the risk of respiratory complications, neonatal intensive care stays and infection for newborns.

“When a woman enters the hospital to give birth, it’s the hospital’s culture that determines her likelihood of having an unnecessary procedure,” said Bret Jackson, president and CEO for EAM. “Unnecessary C-sections may lead to complications that become life threatening and costly to the patient. In general, healthcare facilities and professionals need to concentrate on providing high quality care, not revenue.

For the award, hospitals were evaluated in four areas: cesarean rates (≤ 23.6% of low-risk deliveries), episiotomy rates (≤ 5% of deliveries), elective early delivery rates (≤ 5% of deliveries), and maternity care processes (90% or greater). The data is from the 2023 Leapfrog Hospital Survey performed by The Leapfrog Group, a Washington, D.C. based organization aiming to improve health care quality and safety for consumers and purchasers. The Maternity Care Project also provides details for birthing centers in Michigan, providing parents-to-be invaluable information in making a choice for hospital maternity care.

Those interested in learning more about the project may visit www.maternitycareproject.com. Those interested in more information on maternity services available through MyMichigan Health may visit www.mymichigan.org/maternity