Northwest Health Postpartum Bracelet Program Expands to NMC-B and SSRH

9/12/2023

SPRINGDALE, Ark. (Sept. 12, 2023) – The maternity bracelet program at Northwest Health recently expanded to include Northwest Medical Center – Bentonville (NMC-B) and Siloam Springs Regional Hospital (SSRH). Following the lead of Northwest Medical Center – Willow Creek Women’s Hospital (WCWH), the program’s goal is to extend care beyond the hospital setting after new mothers leave the facility.

Through the maternity bracelet program, postpartum moms are encouraged to wear a silicone bracelet for up to one year after delivering. By doing so, it could make the difference in getting the appropriate care in an emergency.

“Having a new baby creates a lot of changes in a person’s life and it can be easy for new parents to be focused only on the baby and lose track that the mom also had a major medical event in their life,” said Keilia Kelly, labor and delivery supervisor at NMC-B. “Northwest understands that 53% of pregnancy-related deaths occurred from seven to 365 days postpartum. To ensure our postpartum moms are easily recognized, wherever they seek treatment, every maternity patient at our hospital is discharged home with a blue bracelet that says ‘I delivered at NWMC-Bentonville’. The bracelets are a reminder of recent delivery for all providers. We are educating EMTs, emergency departments and convenient care clinics to be mindful of these bracelets and recognize a mother’s postpartum status.”

While having a baby changes a person’s body, the first year after delivering can bring forward several medical complications. Those complications include hemorrhages, postpartum depression and/or anxiety, postpartum psychosis, deep vein thrombosis (DVT) and/or pulmonary embolism, postpartum eclampsia and seizures related to eclampsia.

“If a new mom is injured and can’t communicate that she’s delivered in the past year, the bracelet is a reminder to medical personnel to consider the mom’s recent medical history when evaluating for treatment,” said Megan Bokina, director of women and children’s services at SSRH. “We’ve been talking to emergency departments and emergency personnel in the community to make them aware of the bracelet program and how it can assist them in caring for a patient.”

The bracelet program is optional and bracelets are given to new mothers when they are discharged from the hospital. Each bracelet displays the name of the hospital where the baby was delivered.

For patients that delivered before bracelets were distributed, please visit the hospital where your baby was delivered to pick one up or call the OB navigator at (479) 684-3204 for WCWH, (479) 553-1266 for NMC-B and (479) 215-3305 for SSRH.

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