Stakeholders Direct the PA Perinatal Quality Collaborative to Launch a Maternal Depression and Racial Equity Initiative

In response to guidance from stakeholders, the Pennsylvania Perinatal Quality Collaborative (PA PQC) is launching an initiative to improve maternal depression screening and follow-up rates and reduce racial disparities, with support from the Henry L. Hillman Foundation.

Over the summer, the PA PQC will form a virtual statewide task force with co-chairs from the community, inviting a broad group of committed stakeholders representing diverse racial/ethnic backgrounds. The task force will meet regularly to develop protocols and quality measures for prenatal/postpartum depression screening and follow-up, with a focus on racial equity and disparities. The PA PQC will also survey all PA PQC birth hospitals to gain a clearer understanding of the current practices related to maternal depression screening and reducing health disparities.

The PA PQC will then recruit birth hospitals to implement the protocols for depression screening and follow-up. All PA PQC sites will have the opportunity to learn about best practices for depression screening and follow-up and health equity through the PA PQC's Virtual Quality Improvement Collaborative Meetings and Learning Sessions.

Over the fall and winter, the PA PQC will partner with community-based organizations to convene and facilitate listening and action planning meetings in communities that have gaps in maternal depression screening and follow-up and high rates of health disparities. These meetings will be designed to listen to the community's concerns about maternal depression and racial inequalities, develop a collective action plan to respond to the concerns, report any policy or structural barriers to the PA PQC Policy Group, and oversee the implementation of the collective action plan.