There are substantial gaps in the American public’s knowledge of maternal health, according to new survey data.

The findings come amid a maternal health crisis in the US, which has the highest maternal mortality rate of any developed nation, more than double the rate of peer countries, according to the US Department of Health and Human Services.

In addition, the survey, conducted nearly a year after the federal government introduced the new 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline, finds that just 10% of the public knows the number.

“The Suicide Lifeline’s ability to save lives presupposes that those in need know the 988 number,” says APPC director Kathleen Hall Jamieson, who directs the survey for the Annenberg Public Policy Center (APPC) of the University of Pennsylvania. “We need to redouble our efforts to add 988 to the numbers everyone has at hand.”

The survey, conducted with a nationally representative panel of 1,601 US adults from May 31-June 6, 2023, finds:

  • Just over 1 in 4 people (27%) know that the CDC recommends that pregnant individuals get a Tdap vaccine against whooping cough.
  • Just over half of those surveyed know that getting vaccinated against COVID-19 during pregnancy is safe (52%) and that getting vaccinated against COVID-19 can reduce the risk of complications from the disease (55%) that can affect a pregnancy.
  • Only a quarter of those surveyed (26%) know that a pregnant person who gets the flu is at higher risk of delivering the baby early.
  • Nearly 3 in 4 people (73%) know that having untreated high blood pressure increases the likelihood that a pregnant person will have a stroke.

Read the full article about maternal health knowledge gaps by Michael Rozansky at Futurity.