Deborah Ehrenthal, M.D., receives Healthy Mother and Infant Consortium Health Equity Award

Deborah Ehrenthal, M.D., MPH, FACP, director of Health Services Research for Women and Children and medical director of Women’s Health Programs in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Christiana Care, received the Delaware Healthy Mother and Infant Consortium’s Health Equity Award on April 9 in Wilmington.

The award recognizes Dr. Ehrenthal’s significant impact promoting a diverse and culturally competent heath care workforce and environment.

“Dr. Ehrenthal is a tireless advocate for reducing health disparities among women and children in Delaware,” said Richard Derman, M.D., MPH, FACOG, the Marie E. Pinizzotto, M.D., Endowed Chair of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Christiana Care. “She leads several groups that are committed to research and intervention programs that improve the health of women, children and families.”

Dr. Ehrenthal led the Healthy Beginnings Program at Christiana Care. Funded in part by the Delaware Division of Public Health, the program seeks to eliminate disparities in infant mortality among high-risk populations through evidence-based clinical guidelines for prenatal and preconception care.

She works closely with the Wilmington Consortium, a group of more than 20 agencies working to reduce infant mortality in the state. In addition, she sits on the Data and Science Committee of the Delaware Healthy Mother and Infant Consortium.

In 2009, she established the first Birth Defects Registry in Delaware. The initiative added an autism registry in 2011.

Dr. Ehrenthal completed a three-year project with the Federal Office on Women’s Health, called the Heart Truth Campaign. The project disseminated and supported implementation of evidence-based guidelines for cardiovascular disease prevention in women across the state.

At Christiana Care, Dr. Ehrenthal led value-improvement teams that aimed to improve services for limited English proficient women who receive obstetrical and gynecological care. She co-chairs the Health Equity Council dedicated to the identification, analysis and remediation of health disparities in our community.

Dr. Ehrenthal is associate professor of medicine and obstetrics and gynecology at Thomas Jefferson University College of Medicine. Her research has been published in Obstetrics and Gynecology, Maternal and Child Health Journal and other peer-reviewed journals.