Friday’s second meeting of the reorganized Idaho mother Mortality Review Committee in Boise brought the committee one step closer to publishing its next annual report on mother mortality.
Medical experts comprise the 12-member committee, which advises the Idaho State Board of Medicine. According to the Idaho Board of Medicine’s website, the committee’s goal is to find, examine, and assess maternal deaths in order to ascertain if the mother’s death was caused by or incidental to the pregnancy.
After the Idaho Legislature decided not to renew the committee and let its dissolution, Idaho became the only state in the nation without a committee investigating maternal fatalities in 2023. The Maternal Mortality Review Committee was reinstated by the Idaho Legislature in 2024 when House Bill 399 was passed.
Nov. 21 marked the first meeting of the Idaho Maternal Mortality Committee since the Idaho Legislature reauthorized it.
Members of the Idaho mother Mortality Review Committee attended an orientation and training session on Friday, and they also talked about the secrecy of the work that goes into examining mother deaths.
The Idaho Maternal Mortality Review Committee’s coordinator/executive officer, Orin Duffin, stated that the committee’s goal is to examine maternal deaths in an effort to prevent them in the future, not to suggest disciplinary action, criminal prosecution, or civil litigation in connection with previous deaths.
During the discussion on Friday, Duffin stated that we do not go through and place blame on the deceased, the providers, or anybody else.
“We want to stop maternal deaths in Idaho,” Duffin continued.
As mandated by law, the Idaho Maternal Mortality Review Committee will report to the Idaho Legislature on maternal fatalities in 2023 by January 31.
Idaho has a nearly complete criminal prohibition on abortion, with no exception for the health of the expectant mother. The final report from the Idaho Maternal Mortality Committee, which was not renewed by the Idaho Legislature, found that the number of women and children dying in Idaho had increased and that the majority of these fatalities could have been avoided.
To continue reviewing incidents of maternal deaths in Idaho, the Idaho Maternal Mortality Review Committee met behind closed doors on Friday. The Sun previously reported that the committee had already examined seven of the 13 cases of maternal death that were detected in 2023 before Friday’s meeting.
The Idaho Maternal Mortality Review Committee’s members
- Dr. Andrew Spencer, a maternal-fetal medicine (MFM) specialist
- Faith Krull, a certified nurse midwife
- Jeremy Schabot, deputy director of training and safety at Ada County Paramedics
- Dr. John Eck, a family physician in Boise
- Joshua Hall, the Nez Perce County coroner
- Dr. Julie Meltzer, who specializes in OB/GYN care
- Krysta Freed, a licensed midwife
- Linda Lopez, a social worker
- Dr. Magni Hamso, the medical director for Idaho Medicaid
- Dr. Spencer Paulson, a pathologist
- Tasha Hussman, a registered nurse
- Dr. Kena Lackman
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