Creative ways to provide prenatal & postpartum care
Don’t let the COVID-19 social distancing recommendations prevent your patients from receiving the care they need during and after pregnancy. It’s time to get creative.
Curbside visits
Evaluate your practice’s capability of conducting curbside visits to check blood pressure and fetal heart rate, give flu and Tdap shots, and conduct counseling. Can you invite postpartum patients to curbside appointments for BP, depression screening, and reproductive counseling?
Telehealth
Although telehealth is not suitable for all exams, there is a good chance that you can catch untreated pregnancy-related concerns by checking in virtually with your patients. Are there parts of a patient’s visit that you can conduct via telehealth to limit the time they spend in your office?
Re-design your practice
• Introduce educational wall posters and video snippets for your patients to watch while they wait in the exam room.
• Try a multidisciplinary approach. Doulas and community health workers are trusted communicators and are part of case management teams.
• Share real-life stories to reinforce the importance of timely immunizations.
Learn more about COVID-19 and pregnancy by visiting the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists’ (ACOG) website.