Santa Rosa Medical Center helps launch region-wide Postpartum health initiative
SANTA ROSA COUNTY, Fla. (WKRG) — Healthcare professionals in Northwest Florida are taking the initiative to get post-partum mothers the care they need with something simple: a wristband.
The silver wristbands can be worn for up to a year after giving birth, when women are susceptible to a host of illnesses including post-partum depression, increased risk of stroke, and sepsis infections.
“I have been practicing for a number of years and unfortunately have seen patients that have presented postpartum with some serious complications,” Dr. Jennifer Esses, an OBGYN at Santa Rosa Medical Group said. “It’s really important that when they see a provider that’s not an OBGYN that we sort of make that provider aware that they are postpartum so it expands their scope of what to look for.”
The wristbands act as a temporary ‘medical alert’ bracelet for women who recently gave birth, allowing doctors to look for a broader range of issues that might be unique to postpartum women.
“The purpose of the initiative is to give a voice to those women when they seek care, but also coordination of care if they go to a place like an emergency room, or an urgent care, or another physician and they’re wearing this bracelet it can alert that provider to look for types of conditions that might be unique to postpartum women,” Dr. Esses said.
Santa Rosa Medical Center has teamed up with other area hospitals and emergency responders to make these life-saving bracelets a reality.
However, it’s not just Northwest Florida hospitals taking this initiative. USA Health Children’s and Women’s Hospital enacted a similar ‘wristband’ program back in May, and hospitals in other states like North Carolina are starting similar programs.
“It’s actually a nationwide problem that’s a priority of the National Institute of Health that we improve access for postpartum women and particularly make providers who are not obstetricians gynecologists aware, raise their awareness of these conditions,” Dr. Esses said.
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