California Pregnancy-Associated Review Committee (CA-PARC)

California has launched a California Pregnancy-Associated Review Committee (CA-PARC) in the Central Valley counties of Butte, Colusa, Glenn, Fresno, Kern, Kings, Madera, Merced, Placer, San Joaquin, Sacramento, Shasta, Stanislaus, Sutter, Tehama, Tulare, Yolo and Yuba.

 

Background

The California Pregnancy-Associated Review Committee (CA-PARC), formerly called the California Pregnancy-Associated Mortality Review, is a multi-disciplinary group of professionals and community representatives that reviews case-level (de-identified) information about deaths of California residents that occur during pregnancy or within one year of the end of pregnancy. The purpose of the CA-PARC is to make data-driven, actionable recommendations on changes in practices, programs, and policies to eliminate preventable maternal deaths and health inequities.

The CA-PARC Project Team is committed to broad membership inclusion, embracing the idea that diverse member representation—professionally, geographically, economically, racially, ethnically and by gender—allows the team to more fully identify how to 1) improve the quality of care for pregnant and postpartum people and 2) ensure widespread dissemination of opportunities to implement recommendations.  

In 2024, the CA-PARC Project Team formed a new CA-PARC Central Valley committee and specifically recruited new volunteer members primarily from the following counties: Butte, Colusa, Glenn, Fresno, Kern, Kings, Madera, Merced, Placer, San Joaquin, Sacramento, Shasta, Stanislaus, Sutter, Tehama, Tulare, Yolo and Yuba. 

Individuals representing the following areas were invited to apply: 

Organizations 
Core Areas    
Specialty Areas

Academic institutions
Behavioral health agencies
Blood banks
Doula programs
Federally qualified health centers
FIMR/CFR programs
Healthy Start agencies
Homeless services
Hospitals/hospital associations
Legal system/criminal justice
WIC programs
Private/public insurer
State chapters of professional associations
Rural health associations
State Medicaid Agency
State Medical Society
Tribal organizations

Anesthesia 
Community advocacy
Community birth work
Family medicine
Forensic pathology/medical examiner
Maternal fetal medicine/perinatology
Community midwifery /Certified professional midwifery
Nurse midwifery
Obstetrics and gynecology
Patient safety
Patient/familly advocacy
Perinatal nursing
Psychiatry
Public Health
Social Work

Addiction Medicine
Cardiology
Clergy
Community leadership
Critical care medicine
Emergency medicine, response
Epidemiology
Genetics
Home nursing, home visiting
Law enforcement
Mental health
Nutrition
Pharmacy
Public health nursing
Public member with personal experience
Quality/Risk management
Violence prevention agencies

 

Commitment

All CA-PARC members are expected to:

  • Commit to a three-year term with the opportunity to recommit annually.
  • Attend at least 75% of meetings throughout the year.
  • Respond to CA-PARC-related emails/texts in a timely manner.
  • Individually complete a Committee Review Form for each case they are assigned to review by the requested date.
  • Participate in the discussion, including consensus decisions through online polling.
  • Offer additional input to all cases when relevant.
  • Assist with dissemination and implementation outreach, as applicable.  

 

Additional Information

At present, CA-PARC members serve in a volunteer capacity and do not receive compensation. Meetings are virtual, though there may be an in-person meeting at some point during the three-year term. 

  • Meetings currently scheduled: November 15, 2024; January 24, March 21, May 16, 2025.
  • Each meeting is scheduled on Fridays from 8:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. and is held on Zoom.
  • Meeting preparation includes reviewing 6-8 cases in advance; this amounts to roughly 6-8 hours of prep work before each four-hour meeting.
  • Read more about the past and current work of the CA-PARC.