Mary Washington Healthcare's Post Birth Alert Bracelets Aim to Raise Awareness of Postpartum Health Complications
Maternal mortality rates are still high in the U.S., especially among Black women. MWHC, and state and national elected officials, are trying to tackle the problem.
By Adele Uphaus
MANAGING EDITOR AND CORRESPONDENT
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Last month, Mary Washington Healthcare launched a new initiative aimed at raising awareness of postpartum health complications.
As part of the Post Birth Alert Bracelet program, everyone who gives birth at Mary Washington or Stafford hospitals receives upon discharge a red silicone bracelet printed with the words “I gave birth.”
“This simple yet powerful tool serves as a visual reminder for caregivers and healthcare providers to remain vigilant for signs of postpartum complications, including postpartum hemorrhage,” a press release about the initiative states.
In addition to postpartum hemorrhage, other life-threatening postpartum complications include preeclampsia, infection, blood clots, and cardiac issues, which, according to the press release, “may present subtly and are sometimes overlooked when a patient seeks care outside of obstetric settings.” These complications can occur suddenly and progress rapidly, said Ann Weed, director of women’s and children’s services for Mary Washington Healthcare.
“By implementing this bracelet program and reinforcing education across our system, we aim to improve early recognition and response to these potentially life-threatening conditions, ultimately saving lives and enhancing maternal outcomes,” Weed said.
The hospitals have distributed 230 of bracelets since the initiative launched, and they are already having the intended effect, Weed told the Advance on Thursday.
“What’s really exciting is that we’ve seen patients coming in recently who have paid attention to the warning signs [of postpartum cardiac issues] and come in for an evaluation,” she said. “In fact, we had two just today.”
Issues of maternal mortality and postpartum health are receiving increased attention both locally, statewide, and nationally. In addition to the Post Birth Alert Bracelet program, Mary Washington Healthcare in the fall held a “call to action” day for all staff on the subject of postpartum hemorrhage.
“There was lots of education and awareness-building and it was really well received,” Weed said about the event, which will be held annually going forward.
And last month, Mary Washington Hospital was the site of a roundtable on maternal health hosted by Eugene Vindman, who represents the Fredericksburg region in the U.S. House of Representatives.
State Senator Jennifer Carroll Foy and Delegates Candi Mundon King, Briana Sewell, Nicole Cole, and Stacey Carroll attended the discussion, which focused on identifying life-saving community-based programs and ways to advance maternal health policies in the General Assembly and Congress.
In a press release about the roundtable, Carroll Foy described her experience following the premature birth of her twins. Despite sharing with hospital staff that she was still in pain, she was discharged, only to be rushed back to the emergency room with postpartum complications a few days later.
“I was later taken to the hospital where I learned that I would have died if my husband did not rush to get me emergency care,” Carroll Foy said in the press release. “Almost 90% of all maternal deaths are preventable. Black women are over three times more likely to die from pregnancy-related complications than white women. The legacy of racial prejudice still exists in modern-day maternal healthcare.”
Maternal Mortality Rates and Maternity Care Deserts
The rate of maternal mortality—defined by the Centers for Disease Control as “the death of a woman while pregnant or within 42 days of termination of pregnancy, irrespective of the duration and the site of the pregnancy, from any cause related to or aggravated by the pregnancy or its management”—in the U.S. continues to be higher than that of any other high-income nation, including Australia, Canada, France, Germany, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom, according to a 2024 issue brief by the Commonwealth Fund.
In the U.S. in 2022, the overall maternal mortality rate was 22.3, meaning there were approximately 22 maternal deaths for every 100,000 live births—and the rate among Black women in the U.S. was more than double that, at 49.5. The next-highest rate was 14.3 in Chile. The rate in Canada was 8.4, in the United Kingdom 5.5, in Japan 3.4, and in Norway 0.0.
According to the 2025 March of Dimes report, which includes data from 2019 through 2023, the maternal mortality rate for white women in the U.S. is 18.6, and the rate of Black women is almost triple that at 53.7.
A lack of pre- and postnatal care in the U.S. is a compounding factor. According to the March of Dimes, “access to quality maternity care is a critical component of maternal health and positive birth outcomes, especially in light of the high rates of maternal mortality and severe maternal morbidity in the U.S.” Yet, 2.3 million women of childbearing age live in maternity care deserts where there is no hospital, birth center, or clinician offering obstetric care.
March of Dimes considers women as having “full access to care” when there are two or more hospitals or birth centers or at least 60 clinicians offering obstetric care in a given county. In the Fredericksburg area, only Fredericksburg City and Spotsylvania County have full access to care, according to the organization’s most recent report on maternity care deserts.
King George and Caroline counties are both considered maternity care deserts, and Stafford is considered as having “moderate access to care,” with one or fewer hospitals/birth centers and few obstetric clinicians.
Stafford’s rate of obstetric providers per 100,000 women is 42.9 and Spotsylvania’s is 80.5. King George and Caroline are among the 38.3% of Virginia counties with not a single obstetric provider, according to the report.
One way to address the shortage of obstetric care is to train family medicine practitioners in obstetrics, Weed said. Mary Washington Healthcare hosts a family medicine obstetric fellowship program, which is currently training one doctor and will welcome another in July, she said.
Maternal Health Legislation in the General Assembly
Several bills currently making their way through the General Assembly aim to improve maternal health outcomes in Virginia. One is House Bill 1353, which directs the Commissioner of Health to convene a work group to evaluate the feasibility of a statewide maternal health safety initiative. The bill, which unanimously passed the House of Delegates on Wednesday, requires the work group to submit an interim report by November of this year and a final report with recommendations no later than July 1, 2027.
HB 1403, which was reported from committee this week and is now before the full House, would expand the mandate of the state Maternal Mortality Review Team to include instances of “severe maternal morbidity,” defined as “unintended outcomes of the process of labor and delivery that results in significant short-term or long-term consequences to a woman's health,” and to ensure that such instances are analyzed “in a systematic way.”
Senate Bill 721, introduced by Carroll Foy, directs the Department of Health to implement a Maternal Health Monitoring Pilot Program that would provide for remote patient monitoring for maternal hypertension and diabetes. The bill, which was reported from committee on February 5 and is now before the full Senate, would require the Department to submit a report on the pilot program to the Governor and General Assembly 18 months after the first participant is enrolled.
And a budget amendment carried by Sen. Creigh Deeds and Del. Rodney Willett would establish a workgroup to study barriers that prevent licensed midwives from contracting with Medicaid managed care plans.
According to reporting from Cardinal News, Virginia has more than 500 licensed midwives. They can fill gaps in care that occur when obstetric units close, but many of them do not accept Medicaid.
“Many private midwifery practices struggle to contract with managed-care organizations, which administer the state’s Medicaid plans,” Cardinal News reports. “The challenge is particularly steep for practices that offer home or community births and for certified professional midwives, who are not required to hold nursing degrees.”
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