Idaho’s Maternal Mortality Board resumes work after a year-long hiatus

After Idaho lawmakers approved its dissolution, a group of Idaho medical experts is preparing a report on pregnant mothers who died in 2023.

The Idaho Maternal Mortality Review Committee met Thursday for the first time since it was disbanded in 2023.

The committee’s next report must be submitted to the Idaho Legislature by Jan. 31, as required by new Idaho law that re-established the group.

The purpose of the review board was to identify, review and analyze maternal deaths in Idaho – and make recommendations to address these deaths.

The committee’s most recent report, using data from 2021, concluded that Idaho’s maternal mortality rate has nearly doubled in recent years — and most of those deaths were preventable.

The committee was previously housed at the Idaho Department of Health and Human Services. However, the new law that reinstated it placed the committee under the Idaho Board of Medicine, which licenses doctors.

The committee is working to initially address maternal deaths in 2023 and then will address cases in 2022, Russell Spencer, general counsel for the Idaho Board of Medicine, told the Sun in an interview.

That’s “because lawmakers want to have the most current” information available, Bob McLaughlin, spokesman for the Idaho Board of Medicine, told the Sun in an interview.

Idaho has several laws prohibiting abortions. In the 2024 legislative session, Idaho lawmakers did not change those laws, despite doctors calling for an exception for maternal health.

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This story was originally published by Idaho Capital Sun.