Every day globally nearly 900 women die during childbirth. The United States has the highest rates of maternal mortality among all western countries and the number of deaths is increasing. Low income, rural, African American, and Native American women are the highest at-risk populations.
Black American women are six (6) times more likely to die during childbirth than White American women.
Eighty percent (80%) of maternal deaths are avoidable. Proper clinical training, clinical empathy, patient and provider access to vital data, daily monitoring, patient education, and early interventions are essential. High BP is a common indicator of pre-eclampsia.
Reach’s goal is for every pregnant woman in 3rd trimester to have a blood pressure (BP) monitor and monitor their BP daily for a minimum of 180 days (90days pre and 90days post-partum).
Many women are not getting the prenatal care they need. Additionally, the care that expectant mothers are receiving is not sufficient in detecting high blood pressure, a silent killer. This risk increases during postpartum. Post-delivery the focus shifts from the mother to the infant. In the midst of the pandemic, there are many who are not vaccinated, putting both mother and child at risk. This is a public health emergency. It is time to put an end to avoidable maternal deaths.
Reach is calling on all industry leaders to protect and support expectant and new mothers in all COVID-19 responses, and commit to building a stronger maternal health care system for the future by acting on the following:
1. DISCOUNTS, REBATES AND SUBSIDIES
Provide discounts, rebates and subsidies to expectant and new mothers to ensure that they have access to BP monitors
2. REIMBURSEMENT
Provide clinician reimbursement for perinatal telehealth visits and remote patient monitoring
3. EXTEND REGULATIONS
Extend the current regulations to require daily monitoring of blood pressure for 90 days postpartum for all Medicaid recipients
4. COMMUNITY HEALTH EDUCATION
Provide community health education to properly educate both expecting and new mothers and father about the signs and symptoms and what to do
5. CLINICIAN EDUCATION
Provide clinician education to properly train obstetricians on the use of digital health technologies including telehealth and remote patient monitoring
6. PATIENT EDUCATION
Provide patient education to produce clinical education tool kits, including infographics and clinical assessment questions; patient pamphlets, and digital multimedia content for expectant mothers; and outreach materials for community health workers, midwives and doulas
