Hospitals say they found a tool to help reduce childbirth risks: Wristbands

The 19th reports hospitals nationwide are handing new mothers a simple silicone wristband stamped "I Gave Birth" — a low-tech alert meant to remind postpartum patients, and any emergency worker who treats them, to watch for danger signs like bleeding, infection or dangerously low blood pressure. The idea started at North Carolina's ECU Health in twenty twenty-one and has since spread to hospitals in dozens of states, driven by the fact that nearly seventy percent of pregnancy-related deaths in the U.S. happen after the day of delivery. North Carolina is now expanding the program with part of two hundred thirteen million dollars from a rural health fund tied to President Trump's tax-and-spending law — the same law a Congressional Budget Office analysis says will cut Medicaid spending by more than nine hundred billion dollars over a decade, raising concern among researchers that the postpartum coverage gains of recent years could unravel just as the wristband push expands.

Listen to this story

Hear this and more stories in a personalized audio briefing.

Open The Chonkerton