Macon Magazine

58 maconmagazine.com | December 2024/January 2025 system Operation M.I.S.T., said social determinants are "the key." According to her, a mother can't follow health advice if she's experiencing stress from outsized pressures: "[A provider is] telling you to eat a healthy diet, but you're going to eat what you can afford. We met one mom, and it was McDonald's. She had four kids. She can afford McDonald's, she can't afford what's at the grocery store. Then the transportation that she had didn't allow you to carry anything that could not fit in your lap. Can you imagine doing a grocery run, trying to see what can fit for four kids? You just go to McDonald's." Any of these issues overlap and create a domino effect. Callins agreed: "The truth of the matter is that healthcare ecosystem and quality of life are impacted by social drivers of health, and so there is no doubt that we need to promote the collective engagement to address 'where people live, work, learn, play, age, and worship,'" citing language from the U.S. government's Healthy People 2030 initiative. Finally, there's a lack of postpartum care available. "I think it's a neglected period," said certified postpartum doula Patricia Prime, who supports new mothers one-on-one. About two-thirds of maternal deaths happen postpartum, rather than during pregnancy or birth. After giving birth, many women saw a provider regularly during pregnancy often only have one or two postpartum visits. Loved ones to the new mother may not know what warning signs to look for or are distracted by the new baby. "When somebody doesn't have that knowledge behind them, they are at risk for death," said Prime, who comes to the field with lived experience, as her own birth mother died when she was a newborn. "Having someone pay attention to them or notice them in the postpartum period, now we can intervene." Postpartum mortality is influenced by mental health, since a number of perinatal mood and anxiety disorders commonly occur during this time. It can be difficult to seek or find help. "That stigma should not be attached to mental health," said Williams. "Women should understand and know that their mental health and wellness is important during pregnancy and after delivery." T R A C K I N G T E C H H E L P S F I L L I N T H E G A P S Sylvester is using an innovative tool that addresses many of these challenges – and it fits on a mom's wrist. Her organization, Operation M.I.S.T, stands for Monitor, Inquire, Suggest, and Test. Or, as she noted: "Monitor, intervene, survive, and thrive." It's a service she's established for women from before they get pregnant through a year after delivery. Sylvester came to this work after her own experience with postpartum preeclampsia, alongside experiencing maternal health issues in her physical therapy practice. "What we do is we send women the technology that they need to monitor the numbers that can help them have safer pregnancies," she said. This is often a smart watch paired with a blood pressure cuff or other medical devices. From there, women are empowered to track their own vital statistics. "With a smart device and a sisterhood, you can avoid almost anything. You have the best outcomes, because it's not just numbers, it's somebody who has gotten to know you over the course of months – and sometimes years." The sisterhood includes education and advocacy from Sylvester to use the numbers for empowered decision-making, both in and out of the doctor's office. She gave an example of a woman at 39 weeks gestation being pressured into a scheduled cesarean section after a blood pressure spike. The patient reached out to Sylvester and thought about the other lifestyle factors she had tracked – sleep, hydration, diet – and realized a carb-filled trip to Olive Garden may have been the unintended cause. She was able to explain the circumstances to her doctor ABOVE Doula Patricia Prime serves new moms in their homes, with custom postpartum plans for each parent of how she can best help. "With a smart device and a sisterhood, you can avoid almost anything. You have the best outcomes, because it's not just numbers, it's somebody who has gotten to know you."

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