Jane’s Friday Thoughts are a collection of entries on the state of modern maternity from OB-GYN and Maven Medical Director, Jane van Dis.

Tuesday and Wednesday were busy baby days for me: I delivered five and assisted with two cesarean births in 24 hours! Even though it was kind of exhausting, I love my job—and I felt especially good about the fact that of the five women who delivered vaginally, only one had a tear, and that tear was a simple second-degree tear (mostly because the baby had a very large head). When women can delivery safely with minimal harm to their bodies, that's a real win for all.

After a big baby week, I read a very interesting article in Thompson Reuters today with these key takeaways.

Why it matters

• U.S. employer spending on maternity care rose 50 percent in the last decade, fueled by a jump in C-section rates despite years of efforts to curb the practice.
• “Maternity is one of the main drivers of high cost claims” for employers.
• Avoiding unnecessary C-sections and minimizing [birth] complications “decreases turnover in the workforce following the birth of a child”.
• GE executives said the program so far has saved the company nearly $2 million because of lower negotiated fees for maternity care.

How Maven helps

This article really drove home for me how Maven’s cost-saving platforms, education, and provider network significantly influence cost savings on maternity care in the US.  

Even though the article wasn't about us, it was about using best practices, and trying to study and drill down on ROI on maternity costs and improved outcomes—something we at Maven are 100% committed to doing.  

Bottom line

Decreasing cesarean rates, educating women and families, lowering employer-health care costs, improving the maternity journey, and preventing vaginal tears during vaginal births is Maven’s goal every week.

Take care,
Jane

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