Which maternal health diagnostics are most in need of modernization?

Boston, MA -- August 25 2026: Maternal health technology continues to advance, but the challenge is not always whether new tools exist. Across maternity care, the way diagnostics are applied within clinical workflows, connected across the care journey, and translated into action can determine how useful they are for healthcare professionals and patients.

Speaking ahead of Women's HealthX, Dr. Andrea Willis, SVP & Chief Medical Officer, Blue Cross Blue Shield Tennessee, Dr. Ndidiamaka Amutah-Onukagha, Julia A. Okoro Professor of Black Maternal Health, Director and Founder, Center for Maternal Health Advancement, Tufts University School of Medicine, and Dr. Katherine Arnold, Program Manager, ARPA-H, discuss which maternal health diagnostics are most in need of modernization and what is holding progress back.

Technology needs to support the clinician-patient relationship

For Dr. Andrea Willis, the issue is not necessarily a lack of technological innovation. She points to the continued growth of technology in maternal health, while emphasizing that its value depends on how it is applied and used within care.

In practice, this means having workflows in place so that when something identified during an encounter or in a patient's history requires further assessment, technology can help support or confirm a diagnosis.

Dr. Willis therefore sees progress as closely connected to how technology is applied and incorporated into clinical workflows to augment the doctor-patient relationship.

Moving beyond episodic and reactive monitoring

Dr. Ndidiamaka Amutah-Onukagha identifies a broader limitation in many of the tools currently used in maternity care: they remain episodic and reactive.

Blood pressure readings, laboratory results, symptom questionnaires, and fetal monitoring may provide important information during an individual appointment, but they do not always sit within systems designed to identify meaningful changes between visits or across the full pregnancy and postpartum journey.

She identifies blood-pressure monitoring, preeclampsia risk assessment, postpartum cardiovascular surveillance, hemorrhage prediction, and perinatal mental health screening as areas that need to become more continuous, integrated, and responsive.

Dr. Amutah-Onukagha also stresses that screening needs to lead to action. A positive screen has limited value if a patient cannot access treatment, transportation, childcare, culturally responsive care, or a timely referral.

She identifies fragmented data systems, inconsistent reimbursement, limited investment in maternal health innovation, underrepresentation of diverse women in research, and slow adoption of proven protocols as barriers to progress.

Rethinking fetal monitoring during labor

For Dr. Katherine Arnold, fetal monitoring is a diagnostic area in particular need of modernization.

She explains that current fetal monitors can indicate when a baby is doing well and when a baby is not doing well, but there is also a middle category in which the result is uncertain. According to Dr. Arnold, this occurs in 75% of mothers in labor.

Dr. Arnold says this middle category introduces substantial clinical judgment, which can carry risks for both mothers and babies. She points to babies being born hypoxic, unanticipated NICU admissions, and unnecessary cesarean deliveries as potential risks when clinical uncertainty remains.

According to Dr. Arnold, unnecessary C-sections increase the risk of maternal mortality threefold. She says ARPA-H is focused on developing tools that can provide clinicians with a clearer understanding of how a baby is doing during labor.

In her view, having tools that can more clearly indicate how the baby is doing could support healthier outcomes for both mothers and babies.

What healthcare leaders need to consider

Across the three perspectives, modernization is not simply a question of developing new diagnostic technology. It is also about how existing and emerging tools are applied within workflows, connected across maternity and postpartum care, and linked to timely clinical action.

Their responses highlight several areas for healthcare leaders to consider: more continuous and integrated monitoring, stronger clinical workflows, better connections between screening and treatment, stronger data infrastructure, addressing inconsistent reimbursement, greater representation of diverse women in research, and diagnostic tools that can reduce uncertainty in clinical decision-making.

For healthcare professionals and systems, the value of maternal health technology depends not only on the technology itself, but on whether it can provide useful information at the right time, support clinical decision-making, and connect patients to the care they need.