A new article published in the November 2018 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine suggests that pregnancy-related deaths can be prevented if hospitals

1. Focus on implementing protocols to address the main preventable causes of complications and death during pregnancy and childbirth,
2. Implement staff meetings or huddles with all providers of the care team to assess and review each patient’s risk factors,
3. Practice by simulating obstetrical emergencies in the labor and delivery unit, and
4. Formalize existing relationships between lower-resource hospitals that transfer pregnant women who require higher levels of maternal care.