Wisconsin Maternal Mortality Review Team (MMRT)

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

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