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Rates of maternal mortality in the U.S. are disconcertingly high. Because many serious postpartum complications are underrecognized, the Alliance of Innovation in Maternal Health has developed the following recommendations:
Health systems must ensure timely, effective communication among inpatient and outpatient clinicians, which requires confirming that all mothers will have ongoing sources of primary care.
Before formulating a differential diagnosis, clinicians who care for women of reproductive age should ask whether the patient has been pregnant within the past year.
Clinicians who interact with postpartum women must recognize “red flag” symptoms such as headache (which may portend an eclamptic seizure) and dyspnea (which may indicate card…