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Maternal Health Emergency Department Toolkit

Note: The Maternal Health Emergency Department Toolkit is currently being updated and prepared for access across Illinois.

  • Illinois Maternal Mortality Review Committees (MMRCs) found that, from 2018-2020, 91% of pregnancy-related deaths were potentially preventable.1

  • Of the people in Illinois who experienced a pregnancy-related death from 2018-2020, 66% had at least one ED visit.1

You can be part of the solution! Heading link

The Maternal Health Emergency Department Toolkit training was created by a Task Force of 33 experts to fill the gaps in maternal health care education for emergency departments. The Toolkit training consists of five educational modules including didactic information, case-based learning, and resources for additional reading and local implementation. The modules focus on recommendations from the Illinois MMRCs, triage and management of emergencies in perinatal patients, screening and treatment of mental health and substance use conditions, addressing trauma, performing resuscitation during pregnancy, and conducting safe and coordinated discharge of perinatal patients from the emergency department.

The Toolkit training was piloted at six hospitals from May 2023-June 2024. The training is currently being updated. The updated version will be available for all emergency departments in Illinois starting in January 2025.

Publications about the development of the Toolkit and the results from the pilot program are forthcoming.

For inquiries about the Toolkit, complete this form.

Critical Success Factors in the Emergency Department Heading link

  • Display a sign in your ED alerting patients that they should inform ED staff of their pregnancy or postpartum status.
  • Ask persons of reproductive age (10-55 years) if they are pregnant or within one year postpartum.
  • Document their pregnancy or postpartum status in the patient’s chart. For example, if available, check the EMR box for pregnant or postpartum status, or add a note to the chart.
  • Treat patients who are pregnant or within 1 year postpartum in accordance with the guidelines in the toolkit modules.

Resources Heading link