Blue Cross Blue Shield of Mississippi

Working Together for Mothers and Babies

The Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Mississippi (BCBSMS) Maternity Quality Model is a statewide quality-improvement initiative in collaboration with BCBSMS Network Hospitals and the Mississippi Perinatal Quality Collaborative (MSPQC) that engages hospitals and care teams to reduce maternal and infant harm and death through evidence-based, best practices. The MSPQC is a statewide partnership that aims to promote evidence-based quality improvement initiatives at the hospital and community level to improve birth outcomes across Mississippi.

BCBSMS has supported and partnered with the MSPQC since its inception in 2014. BCBSMS recently participated in the 5th Annual Meeting of the MSPQC held in November 2018 where stakeholders from across Mississippi gathered to discuss current state and next steps for furthering the quality improvement initiatives most critical to creating positive health outcomes for Mississippi mothers and babies.

“This annual gathering has become an essential part of furthering our collective efforts towards improving care for women and babies in our state. It is a time of collaboration, planning and celebration of the steps we are taking together to make Mississippi healthier.”
—Casey Bland, registered nurse and provider quality coordinator, Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Mississippi

MSPQC relies on collaborative data-driven projects to address specific drivers of maternal and neonatal morbidity and mortality. These projects are selected by participating members across the state who work to develop, disseminate and successfully implement best practices in all clinical settings caring for mothers and infants.


Projects include:

  • Obstetric Hemorrhage Initiative
  • Obstetrics: Severe Maternal Hypertension
  • Neonatal: Golden Hour
  • Breastfeeding/Mississippi CHAMPS
  • Safe Sleep
  • NICU Family Support


Most recently, BCBSMS worked with the MSPQC to facilitate hands-on training sessions for Network Hospital teams for implementation of clinical best-practice guidelines, known as Maternal Safety Bundles, focused on obstetric hemorrhage (bleeding) and severe hypertension. These bundles were developed by the Alliance for Innovation on Maternal Health (AIM), a national data-driven maternal safety initiative, and are designed to improve the safety of childbirth with a goal of eliminating preventable harm and death.

Other outcomes of our collaborative efforts include:

  • Five hospitals in the state have achieved Baby-Friendly Hospital Designation, and 91 percent of all hospitals in Mississippi that deliver babies are actively working toward achieving or maintaining this quality designation.
  • Nearly all elective deliveries before 39 weeks of pregnancy have been eliminated.
  • Breastfeeding rates have increased significantly from 49 percent in 2015 to 65 percent in 2018.

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