The University of California San Diego School of Medicine and UC San Diego Health are teaming up with UC San Francisco and UCSF Health to join the Maternal-Fetal Medicine Units (MFMU) Network. This partnership aims to enhance obstetric care and make clinical trials more accessible for patients in Southern California.
The MFMU Network, established in 1986, focuses on improving pregnancy and newborn health. Patty Maysent, CEO of UC San Diego Health, emphasizes that this collaboration brings research closer to patients. “By aligning studies with clinical practice, we can help patients make informed choices, leading to safer pregnancies and healthier babies,” she says. This effort not only improves access to research but also strengthens healthcare equity in the region.
The network will specifically research important issues like maternal mortality, postpartum recovery, and the rates of premature and low-birth-weight infants. It will also look into the effectiveness of medications used during pregnancy and breastfeeding.
Cynthia Gyamfi-Bannerman, MD, a leading expert in obstetrics at UC San Diego, notes that the MFMU Network has significantly impacted clinical practices. “Joining this network will advance care for pregnant women across the U.S.,” she asserts. Her previous research has already led to breakthroughs, such as using late-preterm steroids to help newborns breathe better and finding that inducing labor at 39 weeks can reduce cesarean rates and preeclampsia risks.
What’s particularly noteworthy is that UC San Diego is now the only satellite center of the MFMU Network on the West Coast. Mary Norton, MD from UC San Francisco, highlights that this partnership ensures that California’s patients are included in vital prenatal research. Their shared history of research in high-risk obstetrics makes this collaboration even stronger.
Statistics show that the MFMU Network oversees numerous obstetric clinical trials funded by the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD), covering more than 160,000 births annually across the country. As a result, this collaboration not only stands to benefit individual patients but also the broader maternal and child health landscape in the U.S.
As we move forward, the focus on maternal health remains crucial, especially in light of rising maternal mortality rates. Recent data from the CDC highlights that 701 women died in the U.S. from causes related to pregnancy in 2021, a number that many experts believe is preventable with better research and support systems in place.
