Maternal Mortality Review Committee (MMRC)

https://dhhs.ne.gov/Pages/Maternal-Mortality-Review-Committee-(MMRC).aspx

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What you need to know

The Nebraska Maternal Mortality Review Committee (MMRC) is seeking new members!

Applications are due by May 15, 2026

The MMRC is a multidisciplinary team that has been active since 2014 and is guided by Nebraska Revised Statute 71-3404 – 71-3411. In part, the statute declares there is a need for the number and causes of maternal death to be examined through comprehensive review. The MMRC reviews all deaths of pregnant and postpartum women in Nebraska to determine the six following measures:

If the death was pregnancy-related
The cause of death
If the death was preventable
The factors that contributed to the death
Recommendations and actions that address those contributing factors
The anticipated impact of those actions if implemented

The MMRC seeks to include members working in and representing communities that are diverse with regard to race, ethnicity, immigration status, and English proficiency. Additionally, the MMRC aims to include members from differing geographic regions in the state, including both rural and urban areas.

Those with the following areas of expertise are especially encouraged to apply:

Medical Provider – Rural Nebraska
Medical Provider -Maternal Fetal Medicine, Obstetrics, or Family Medicine (providing prenatal care)
Community Health Worker
Medicaid (e.g. Medicaid application navigator or counselor)
Non-clinical provider serving moms, infants, and/or families (e.g. doula, home visitor, or lactation consultant)

The MMRC meets four times a year. Three meetings are held virtually and one is held in person in the Lincoln/Omaha metro area. All meetings are three hours long. Additionally, there is an estimated four hour per quarter time commitment required outside of quarterly meetings for record review, correspondence, and planning prior to each meeting.

The team intends to fill up to three positions this year. A virtual onboarding session will be scheduled based on accepted applicants' availability and will be completed prior to the MMRC's July 29, 2026 meeting.

Please complete the online application at https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/CPZ3XR6 or by clicking here. Applications are due by May 15, 2026.

Maternal Mortality in Nebraska

The pregnancy-related mortality ratio (PRMR) from 2014-2023 ranged from 4.0 to 29.9 deaths per 100,000 live births.
View an accessible PDF

Cardiovascular conditions are the leading cause of pregnancy-related deaths in Nebraska, causing 16.2% of deaths from 2014-2023. Other leading causes of pregnancy-related death include hemorrhage (excluding aneurysm) at 16.2%, thrombotic embolism (non-cerebral) at 19.8% and injury at 10.8%.
The odds of pregnancy-related death are 3.2 times higher for non-Hispanic Black mothers than for non-Hispanic White mothers.
Nearly 90% of pregnancy-related deaths from 2014-2023 were determined to be preventable.
Maternal Mortality Fact Sheet

How Does Nebraska Define Maternal Mortality?

Different definitions of maternal mortality are used to track and analyze deaths by different organizations. Most broadly, maternal mortality is the death of a person while pregnant or within one year of the end of a pregnancy.

A pregnancy-associated death is the death of a person within one year of the end of a pregnancy from any cause. Pregnancy-associated deaths represent the broadest category of maternal deaths, and can be broken down further into two main categories: pregnancy-related deaths and deaths unrelated to pregnancy.

A pregnancy-related death is a maternal death due to a pregnancy complication. More specifically, these deaths occur during pregnancy or within a year of the end of a pregnancy and are due to a chain of events initiated by the pregnancy or the aggravation of an unrelated condition by the physiologic effects of pregnancy.