The Preeclampsia Foundation announced today that Nicole Purnell, program manager of MoMMAs Voices, has been selected to serve on the National Quality Forum’s Maternal Morbidity and Mortality Committee as a patient advocate. While the majority of the committee’s members are medical and scientific experts in maternal health, inclusion of patient and family partners is of extreme importance to the 14 maternal health patient organizations represented in the MoMMAs Voices coalition. (https://www.mommasvoices.org/partners).

Driven by science, collaboration, measurement, and innovation, the National Quality Forum (NQF) fosters healthy multistakeholder collaboration to advance quality measures and improvement strategies that lead to better outcomes and greater value in healthcare. The U.S. is the only high-income country where maternal mortality is on the rise. Additionally, racial disparities are stark and persistent – a Black woman is three to four times more likely to die from a pregnancy or childbirth complication than a White woman, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

The purpose of NQF’s Maternal Morbidity and Mortality Committee’s 24-month project include:

• Convening a multi-stakeholder committee of experts to advise and guide NQF’s work;
• Development of an Environmental Scan Report on the quality measurement for maternal morbidity and mortality;
• Development of a Recommendations Report which will describe measurement frameworks for maternal morbidity and mortality.

MoMMAs Voices prime focus is training advocates to be engaged patient partners. Members speak to the media, participate in provider education, serve on state, regional and national organizations and serve in a variety of capacities to support improving maternal health. In Fall 2019, at MV’s Champions for Change Summit 100 more patients were trained as advocates.

“We’ve worked hard to ensure the voice of the patient is at the table where decisions impacting maternal health are being made,” says Purnell. “We commend NQF for including our voice in this important initiative.”

A maternal health advocate based in North Texas, Purnell’s life was tragically changed in 2005 when severe preeclampsia caused multiple organ failure and placenta abruption resulting in the stillbirth of her son at 34 weeks gestation. For 10 years, Nicole chaired the Dallas Promise Walk for Preeclampsia along with several other volunteer roles. Last year, she joined the staff at the Preeclampsia Foundation as the MoMMAs Voices Coalition Program Manager. She also serves on the Executive Committee of the CDC’s National Network of Perinatal Quality Collaboratives (NNPQC).

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Established in 2018, MoMMAs Voices is a national coalition of patient organizations and individuals with lived experiences or those who represent them, using their voice to reduce maternal complications in pregnancy and the postpartum period. This program of the Preeclampsia Foundation is supported by a grant from Merck, through Merck for Mothers, the company’s $500 million initiative to help create a world where no woman dies giving life. Merck for Mothers is known as MSD for Mothers outside the United States and Canada.

Preeclampsia Foundation, a U.S.-based 501(c)(3) organization established in 2000 whose purpose is to improve the outcomes of hypertensive disorders of pregnancy by educating, supporting and engaging the community, improving healthcare practices, and finding a cure. The Preeclampsia Foundation envisions a world where preeclampsia and related hypertensive disorders of pregnancy no longer threaten the lives of mothers and their babies. www.preeclampsia.org.

The National Quality Forum (NQF) works with members of the healthcare community to drive measurable health improvements together. NQF is a not-for-profit, membership-based organization that gives all healthcare stakeholders a voice in advancing quality measures and improvement strategies that lead to better outcomes and greater value. Learn more at www.qualityforum.org.