The Indiana State Department of Health announced a grant that will go toward improving the state’s review process of maternal deaths.

Indiana has one of the highest maternal mortality rates in the country. In 2018, lawmakers established a review committee to examine the reasons why.

This new funding from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will allow ISDH to better support the committee and its recommendations.

READ MORE: New Laws Aim To Address Infant And Maternal Mortality

Gretchen Martin is the director of the Division of Fatality Review and Prevention at ISDH.

“Look at the risk factors and circumstances driving these deaths and then have that information drive our prevention,” says Martin.

The grant provides more than $400,000 a year for five years to add staff for data collection and create provider outreach efforts.

Martin says the funding will allow them to address every case.

“That is a goal and it’s very important to identify all deaths and to get them reviewed in a timely manner,” says Martin.

The Maternal Mortality Review Committee was established to determine why mothers in Indiana are dying during and after child birth.

Contact Jill at jsheridan@wfyi.org or follow her on Twitter at @JillASheridan.