Maternal health exec discusses using AI to address Black maternal mortality.

MATERNAL mortality; MATERNAL health; ARTIFICIAL intelligence; VAGINAL birth after cesarean; BLACK people; FINANCING of public health

Dr. Dawnette Lewis, a maternal-fetal medicine specialist and the director of Northwell's Center for Maternal Health, discusses the use of AI to address racial disparities in maternal health outcomes. Black people in New York face a significantly higher risk of dying due to pregnancy complications compared to white people. Northwell's Maternal Outcomes Navigation program (MOMS) uses AI to increase communication with patients and identify pregnancy complications early, resulting in a 60% reduction in hospital readmission rates within a month among Black patients. Dr. Lewis acknowledges the limitations of AI but believes it can be leveraged to improve maternal health. She also highlights the role of systemic racism and bias in perpetuating health disparities and calls for the reevaluation of diagnostic tools that contribute to these disparities. Dr. Lewis sees opportunities for investment in AI technology to address the maternal mortality crisis, particularly by making it accessible on personal devices. She is optimistic about the increasing recognition of pregnancy conditions as risk factors for cardiovascular conditions and the growing investment in women's health beyond obstetrics. [Extracted from the article]

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