Skip to main content

Wisconsin Maternal Mortality Review Team (MMRT)

Announcements

Wisconsin’s Maternal Mortality Review (MMR) program has two opportunities to get involved in maternal mortality prevention in 2027!

  • Join us Friday, October 9 at noon for a 60-minute virtual Q&A session, if you are interested in asking questions or connecting with program staff members before you submit your application. Note, reservations are not required to attend.
  • Apply via the survey by the end of the day, October 18, 2026.

If you have any questions, please contact MMR Program Lead, Mary Wienkers, Mary.Wienkers@dhs.wisconsin.gov.

Rural Maternal Health is Everyone’s Concern: The importance of addressing decreasing access to maternal health care in rural Wisconsin (PDF) highlights rural hospital closures and maternity care deserts where where essential maternal health services are limited or nonexistent. While this crisis is concentrated in rural and Tribal communities, the impact can be felt statewide.

  • Since 2022, there have been 12 facilities across Wisconsin that have permanently closed their birthing services.
  • In Wisconsin, 11 out of 72 counties are considered to be maternity care deserts.
  • Many counties, largely in northern Wisconsin, have no maternity care available for those approaching their delivery date.

Review the brief and share it with your networks. Help us spread awareness and turn insight into action to support positive maternal health outcomes across the state.

The Wisconsin Maternal Health Action Grant will strengthen Wisconsin’s ability to implement the Maternal Mortality Review Team's findings to improve the health outcomes of birthing people and mothers in the state. Through an in-depth review process, MMRT identifies contributing factors and develops Wisconsin MMRT Recommendations, P-02108-2020 (PDF) aimed at preventing future pregnancy-related deaths.

This funding request plans to strengthen Wisconsin’s ability to implement MMRT findings to improve the health outcomes of birthing people and mothers in the state. 

The main goal of this opportunity is to partner with one or multiple organizations who will be responsible for implementing one or more MMRT recommendations in the care coordination, navigation, and support; mental health and substance use response; and/or quality of care and patient safety.

Applications were due August 14, 2026 by 11:59 p.m.

Mission

The Wisconsin MMRT mission is to increase awareness of the issues surrounding pregnancy-associated deaths and make recommendations to promote change among individuals, communities, and health care systems in order to eliminate preventable maternal deaths among Wisconsin residents.

Background

The Wisconsin MMRT was established by the Wisconsin Department of Health Services, Division of Public Health and the Wisconsin Section of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists in 1997. Prior to 1997, cases of maternal mortality were reviewed by a committee of the Wisconsin Medical Society.

Currently, the MMRT is supported through the Enhancing Reviews and Surveillance to Eliminate Maternal Mortality (ERASE MM) program administered by the CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention). This funding supports maternal mortality review committees (MMRCs) in 46 states and six U.S. territories and freely associated states to identify, review, and characterize pregnancy-related deaths; and identify prevention opportunities.

Members

The MMRT is composed of public health and health care experts who represent professional organizations involved in the delivery of health care to pregnant women in Wisconsin. The MMRT strives to include representation from multiple disciplines, including public health services, perinatal nursing, midwifery, dietetics, psychiatry, and obstetrics. The purpose of the MMRT is to identify and review pregnancy-associated deaths, identify factors that contribute to these deaths, and propose recommendations that aim to prevent future deaths.

View a listing of members

Review process

Maternal deaths are identified using the pregnancy status checkbox and the cause of death listed on the death certificate. The State Vital Records Office also cross-references death certificates of women of reproductive age with birth and fetal death certificates in order to identify additional deaths. Once the relevant maternal death, birth, and fetal death certificate data has been obtained, perinatal medical records, coroner and/or medical examiner reports (CME), police reports, and social services records may be requested as part of the maternal mortality review (MMR) process. The MMR program also aims to contact family members or other loved ones of those who have died.

These interviews provide an opportunity for loved ones to share about the person’s life, experiences, health, care, and circumstances surrounding their death. This information, which can provide important context that may not be available in official records, becomes part of the information used by the MMRT to better understand factors that may have contributed to a death and to identify prevention opportunities.

The MMRT meets bi-monthly to review the information gathered on each death, determine whether or not the death was related to pregnancy, and develop prevention recommendations.

Were you contacted by MMR for a family interview?

The Wisconsin MMR program may contact family members and loved ones (by mail or phone) to invite them to participate in an interview. Participation is voluntary, and interviews are conducted by trained interviewers who understand that talking about the death of a loved one can be difficult.

If you received a letter and would like to confirm that it came from the Wisconsin MMR program or have questions about participating, please email DHSMMR@dhs.wisconsin.gov.

MMRT meeting summaries

The content of these meeting summaries reflect the views and opinions of the MMRT. It may not reflect the official policy or position of the Department of Health Services.

Contact us

Mary Wienkers, MPH, Mary.Wienkers@dhs.wisconsin.gov
Maternal Mortality Review Lead and Program Contact

Subscribe to our mailing list.

Disclaimer about advisory council content

This content reflects the views and opinions of the advisory council. It may not reflect the official policy or position of DHS.

Glossary

 
Last revised October 5, 2026