Melissa E. Bauer, DO

C. S. Mott Endowed Professor of Public Health, Director of Patient Engagement, and Associate Professor

Melissa Bauer, DO, is dual fellowship–trained in critical care and obstetric anesthesiology. Dr. Bauer is independently funded by the National Institutes of Health through the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, where her work is focused on reducing maternal mortality and morbidity due to maternal sepsis.

Her research centers on the early identification and treatment of maternal sepsis and the use of patient and community engagement strategies to improve maternal care. Dr. Bauer recently served as Chair of the national Alliance for Innovation on Maternal Health (AIM) and American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) Sepsis in Obstetrical Care Patient Safety Bundle Workgroup. She has led the statewide implementation efforts of the maternal sepsis safety bundle in Michigan (67 hospitals) and serves as a consultant for multiple states on maternal sepsis bundle implementation and quality improvement initiatives. She is currently working with the World Health Organization to determine global research priorities for maternal sepsis on the PROGRESS (PriOrities for Global RESearch in maternal sepsis) committee.  

Select Publications

Bauer ME, Summers K, Cassidy AG, Chavez A, Nath R, Carr A, Panelli DM, Walczak C, Tabios M, Main EK. A Framework for Supporting Patients and Families After a Severe Maternal Event. Obstet Gynecol. 2026 Apr 2;. doi: 10.1097/AOG.0000000000006279. [Epub ahead of print] PubMed PMID: 41926773; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC13048283.

Bauer ME, Pacheco LD. Sepsis and Septic Shock During Pregnancy and Postpartum. Obstet Gynecol. 2025 Jun 26;146(2):207-222. doi: 10.1097/AOG.0000000000005991. Review. PubMed PMID: 40570351; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC12270757.

Smith KL, Main E, Bauer ME, Maternal Sepsis Community Leadership Board. Moving from Principle to Practice: A Researcher's Guide to Co-Leading Engaged Research with Community Partners and Patients with Lived Experience to Reduce Maternal Mortality and Morbidity for Maternal Sepsis. Matern Child Health J. 2024 Aug;28(8):1315-1323. doi: 10.1007/s10995-024-03954-y. Epub 2024 Jun 18. PubMed PMID: 38888883; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC11526196.

Bauer ME, Albright C, Prabhu M, Heine RP, Lennox C, Allen C, Burke C, Chavez A, Hughes BL, Kendig S, Le Boeuf M, Main E, Messerall T, Pacheco LD, Riley L, Solnick R, Youmans A, Gibbs R. Alliance for Innovation on Maternal Health: Consensus Bundle on Sepsis in Obstetric Care. Obstet Gynecol. 2023 Sep 1;142(3):481-492. doi: 10.1097/AOG.0000000000005304. Epub 2023 Aug 3. PubMed PMID: 37590980; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC10424822.

Bauer ME, Lorenz RP, Bauer ST, Rao K, Anderson FWJ. Maternal Deaths Due to Sepsis in the State of Michigan, 1999-2006. Obstet Gynecol. 2015 Oct;126(4):747-752. doi: 10.1097/AOG.0000000000001028. PubMed PMID: 26348189; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC4564866.