Giving Compass' Take:

• Jilian Mincer explains how large employers are working directly with hospitals to bring down maternal care costs, which have grown alarmingly in recent years. 

• How can funders help to bring down maternal healthcare costs for everyone? Why is it so difficult to keep costs down? 

• Learn about the failings of maternal healthcare in the U.S.

General Electric Co (GE.N) and other large companies are trying to chip away at rising childbirth costs for U.S. employees, working directly with hospitals to reduce cesarean sections and related complications.

The efforts are in very early stages, with few details on their impact outside of cost savings of a few million dollars so far.

The efforts are in very early stages, with few details on their impact outside of cost savings of a few million dollars so far. But they illustrate yet another path companies are taking to bring down U.S. medical costs by working with doctors and hospitals to set health goals.

GE’s maternity strategy is designed to steer its employees to hospitals that are believed to provide better care and less likely to recommend unnecessary and costly interventions, company officials told Reuters.

U.S. employer spending on maternity care rose 50 percent in the last decade, fueled by a jump in C-section rates despite years of efforts to curb the practice, according to research firm Truven Health Analytics.

Read the full article about maternal care costs by Jilian Mincer at Reuters.