A Mother’s Death Affects the Entire Family
Q: But let’s go to the woman who’s completely healthy. What can she do?
A: 15% of the women that are completely healthy and actually often have a completely healthy pregnancy will still develop complications either during childbirth or just after. So we say reduce your risk. You can go to www.merckformothers.com to see what are the kind of risk factors that you can reduce. We say know the warning signs. So if you’re at home, or even if you’re in the health facility and you start to feel odd, you know what signs to look out for. And the third thing is that’s really important, is that if you have suffered a complication during pregnancy and childbirth, speak to your healthcare provider because there are things that you need to know to ensure the next pregnancy isn’t a high-risk pregnancy, and that your future health is good as well. So those are the kinds of things that a woman can do to ensure that she reduces her risk of developing complications. But go to merckformothers.com to get more information.
Q: What is Merck for Mothers?
A: Two years ago, Merck announced a 10-year, $500M initiative to help create a world where no woman dies while giving life. But when we heard these sobering statistics, and we already have programs in over 20 countries, we realized we had to do something in the U.S.. So this week, we are launching programs that cover ten states, they reach 3.3M pregnant women, and we’ve made an initial investment of $6M to help the women in America also.
Alma Roberts: Good morning again MomsNCharge.
Q: Can you tell us about the work your organization is doing with Merck for Mothers?
A: Baltimore Healthy Start is very pleased to be a partner in the Merck for Mothers initiative, and we are working to identify those women who are most at risk for the chronic diseases that are the leading causes of maternal death to create a coordinated, comprehensive care delivery system in partnership with community health centers so that women can receive the care that’s necessary in managing their care, and also to become partners in their care. So we are very excited about having this opportunity to be a partner in Merck for Mothers.
Q: Can you describe the impact that a loss of a mother has on friends, families and the greater community?
A: As you all know, I can tell from your title ‘MomsNCharge’, you understand the role that moms and women play in general. In being the hub of the family as well as the hub of the community, they’re the child’s first teacher, a companion for their mates, they’re the economic driver in many of a families across the communities throughout the country, and so the loss of a mother creates a tremendous vacuum for family and community.
Dr. Agrawal: So you ask,
Q: Where can people learn more?
A: I think I’m going to start by saying it’s absolutely unacceptable that women are still dying during pregnancy and childbirth in the U.S.. It’s a tragedy that the majority of these deaths are preventable. We’re really excited to launch our programs, but we can’t do it alone. So MomsNCharge, we want you to work with us, spread the word and inform others, and please go to merckformothers.com to learn more.
Dr. Agrawal & Alma Roberts: Thank you.
Have you heard of Merck for Mothers? What have you heard about maternal mortality?
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