TriHealth Birthing Hospitals Recognized by Mama Certified as Leaders, Advocates for Advancing Maternal and Infant Health Equity

TriHealth is proud to announce that both Good Samaritan Hospital and Bethesda North Hospital have been awarded Leader and Advocate badges by Mama Certified, a first-of-its-kind certification that brings together all four adult hospital systems with birthing facilities in Hamilton County to advance maternal health equity for Black families.

Developed in partnership with Cradle Cincinnati, The Health Collaborative, Queens Village and local Black mothers, Mama Certified is designed to provide Black parents-to-be with a meaningful way to assess and understand the maternal-related initiatives of Hamilton County’s hospital networks. This innovative certification program further encourages and advocates for increased hospital efforts to ensure that Black mothers and their babies receive respectful care. 

Under Mama Certified, health systems are assessed across four categories: infant care, maternal care, staff care and community care. Badges for maternal care and infant care were publicly announced earlier today.

Good Samaritan Hospital and Bethesda North Hospital were both awarded Leader badges in maternal care and Advocate badges in infant care for their progress in creating inclusive and equitable experiences for Black mothers and babies. Notable initiatives include delivering patient-centered care to pregnant women with chemical dependency, meeting the basic needs of pregnant and postpartum women through screening and linkage to community resources and actively participating in the Ohio Council to Advance Maternal Health.

Mama Certified was developed in response to significant racial disparities in maternal mortality and infant mortality in the region. Black moms are 2.5 times more likely to die during childbirth and nearly three times more likely to experience infant loss in Ohio than any other race, regardless of education and socioeconomic factors.

“Black women told us that they wanted to better understand the steps hospitals were taking to improve care for Black birthing people and babies,” said Dr. Meredith Shockley-Smith, executive director of Cradle Cincinnati. “To watch that seed of an idea grow to where it is now – with all birthing hospitals working to be transparent about their equity-related efforts – is nothing short of groundbreaking in our community.”

The release of the Mama Certified badges is a key step in TriHealth’s ongoing commitment to maternal and infant health equity. In addition to badge recognition, TriHealth has launched a Queens Village hospital advisory board, bringing together TriHealth leadership and local Black moms to develop hospital-specific solutions that will drive systemic change.

Comprehensive reports detailing maternal and infant health data alongside improvement plans for Good Samaritan Hospital and Bethesda North Hospital are available for the public to view at www.mamacertified.org.