LANSING, MI – E.W. Sparrow Hospital has achieved the highest ranking possible for its care of pregnant and new moms from the Michigan Alliance for Innovation on Maternal Health (MI AIM), highlighting our efforts to ensure expecting mothers and our youngest patients receive the highest quality care in Mid-Michigan.

The “platinum” designation, which places Sparrow in an elite group of Michigan hospitals, is based on a variety of factors such as intense involvement in training offered by MI AIM. It also includes top scores for treating severe maternal morbidities (SMM) or unexpected outcomes of labor and delivery that result in short-or long-term consequences to a woman’s health, including hypertension, hemorrhages, and sepsis.  According to the CDC, severe maternal morbidity affects roughly 50,000 to 60,000 women each year.

“Severe maternal morbidity is preventable in most cases,” said Tonyie Andrews-Johnson, Director of Women’s Services at E.W. Sparrow Hospital. “In collaboration with MI AIM, Sparrow is on a daily journey to improve maternal mortality and morbidity in our community”

The hard work of the highly skilled Sparrow Women’s Services team is paying off. Sparrow is well below the state average when it comes to hypertension and hemorrhage cases. Between 2011 and 2020, Sparrow also saw a 58 percent decrease in SMM cases, including a 74.5 percent drop in hemorrhages.

With some 3,500 baby deliveries a year – nearly a quarter million babies and counting – E.W. Sparrow Hospital is Mid-Michigan’s premier birthing center, the region’s only Baby-Friendly designated hospital, and participates in the state’s Birthing Hospital project to enhance critical birthing services and work toward reducing infant mortality. It is also home to Mid-Michigan’s only Regional Intensive Care Unit (RNICU).

For more information about Sparrow maternal health services, go to Sparrow.org/Birthing.

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Sparrow Health System is Mid-Michigan’s premier healthcare organization and includes hospitals in Lansing, Carson City, Charlotte, Ionia and St. Johns, as well as Sparrow Specialty Hospital, Physicians Health Plan, Sparrow Care Network, Sparrow Medical Group and the Michigan Athletic Club. Sparrow is affiliated with Michigan Medicine through the Sparrow Children’s Center and with Michigan State University’s three human health colleges. Through these partnerships and the dedication of our 10,000 caregivers, Sparrow pursues a vision to be nationally recognized as a leader in quality and patient experience. For more information, visit Sparrow.org.
Photos courtesy of Sparrow Health System