Introduction
Maternal health outcomes are important measures of the health of a nation.1 In the United States, these outcomes, including morbidity and mortality, are often negative, with significant differences by demographic, geographic, economic and social factors.2,3 In 2023, the US pregnancy-related mortality ratio was 18.7 deaths per 100,000 live births, continuing a general upward trend since 1987.3 Severe maternal morbidity (SMM) is also high, with approximately 50,000 cases of SMM per year.1 Differences in SMM rates also exist by race/ethnicity, age, geography, income, insurance, disability, and hospital type.1,4 Although factors contributing to maternal morbidity and mortality are complex, evidence from Maternal Mortality Review Committees (MMRCs) indicates that more than 80% of pregnancy-related deaths are preventable, and almost half of pregnancy-related deaths could be prevented with improvements in care quality at the provider, hospital, and system level.5, 6, 7, 8 This makes the quality of health care provided to pregnant women an overarching concern and an important lever for improving outcomes.5, 6, 7 This commentary will provide a broad overview of the quality improvement (QI) activities of Perinatal Quality Collaboratives (PQCs) and their use of patient safety bundles (PSBs) to improve maternal health care quality, with the goal of improving maternal health outcomes.