We are in the midst of a maternal health crisis. The only developed nation with a consistently rising maternal mortality rate, and rates higher than 45 other countries. Nearly half of all counties don’t have a single obstetrician. Our C section rate is nearly twice the average global rate. And critically, we lack comprehensive, coordinated care to support women during and post pregnancy. It’s time to change how we look at pregnancy and early motherhood – and realize that rather than a clinical journey, it’s a consumer journey in need of a cohesive, consistent, continually updated content strategy. It’s time to take a more human-centric, empathetic look at healthcare consumers, become unafraid to challenge existing conventions, and shepherd women to safer, happier pregnancies and births.

1. It’s Time to Fix Maternal Health’s
Content Strategy Problem
Presentation to TED Social

2. The Opportunity
Now What?
AGENDA
The Situation
The Vision
1
2
3
4

3. 1 THE SITUATION

4. WE ARE FAILING WOMEN – AND SOCIETY

5. MILLENNIAL CONSUMERS EXPECT MORE
• Millennials have a generally negative attitude regarding the
current healthcare experience.
• Millennials want convenient, on-demand access to services.
– Location
– Real-time care
– Smaller scale, personalized experience
– Easy/quick payment options
• Millennials expect a consistent customer experience that
includes:
– Respect from providers
– Shared decision-making
• Millennials seek transparency.
– Price
– Information
• Millennials want digital tools to augment the patient/provider
relationship.
– Improved efficiency of care
– Fewer touch points
• Millennials are interested in identifying low cost options and
are comfortable in environments with multiple price points.
• Millennials take a holistic view of health, integrating
traditional physical and mental health with wellness and
mindfulness.

6. In 2019, the majority of women who give birth in the United States
will see their obstetrician the 12-14 times pre-natally and 1-2 times
post-partum (a cadence instituted in 1985). Each visit will last on
average 8 minutes and there will be little to no connective tissue in
between.
As demographics shift, and millennial women bring a more diverse,
demanding, educated, digitally-native approach to pregnancy and
motherhood, the time is now to evolve our thinking about the process
as one that requires a content strategy, to better serve current
moms, and generations to come.
WOMEN HAVE CHANGED – CONTENT HASN’T

7. WHO I SPOKE TO
6 MEMBERS OF HOSPITAL
LEADERSHIP
20 PROVIDERS
35 CONSUMERS
OB/Gyns
Midwives
Doulas
Labor & Delivery Nurses
Couplet Care Nurses
NICU Nurses
Lactation Consultants
Millennials who gave birth in the last year
New dads

8. PROVIDERS RECOGNIZE THAT MOMS NEED SPECIFIC RESOURCES
BETTER PREPARATION
We need to help mom
and her partner
understand options and
possible outcomes, the
general flow of her
hospital stay, tests and
other requirements for
baby while still in the
hospital, and how to
care for herself and her
baby after leaving.
MORE HEALTH SUPPORT
From post-partum
depression to anxiety,
obesity, and opiate
addiction, there are
population health issues
in the community for
which we can provide
information, monitoring,
and support to create
better outcomes for mom
and baby.
ENHANCED COMMUNITY
Pregnant women and new
moms need support,
connection, and shared
experience from their
nurses, from their
partners, and from other
moms. Providers can also
get them plugged in to a
family medical practice to
begin a continuum of care
across the community.
MEANINGFUL PERSONAL
TOUCHES
Data ports and high
bandwidth WiFi will
“surprise and delight”
moms and their families.
Giving mom more control
by letting her manage
interruptions and control
her schedule will give her
more visibility into the
process, which will quell
her anxiety.
TO RECOGNIZE HER
JOURNEY
Pregnancy isn’t a series of
individual touchpoints and
moments; rather, it’s one
of the most meaningful,
content-rich experiences
in a woman’s life. Through
empathy and a holistic
approach, we can put it all
together for mom,

9. “When it comes to post-partum depression, we are failing.”
“I want to be able to provide not just the absolute highest quality medical or surgical
birthing experience but also the one that she is looking for and what she wants out of
that may be a once in a lifetime experience of bringing a life into the world. “
“This is a generation of young men and women who were used to certain things during their upbringing who
want the same thing – a lot more touches leading up to birth and also the ability to turn to someone with
questions and issues.”
“Number one thing that frustrates me is that many millennials don’t take classes
which means they are not prepared; if you haven’t taken a class and want to have a
baby naturally you are totally not ready.”
“We need to get patients connected in with a family physician, a pre-assignment at the start of pre-natal care;
that could link patients into our health system.”
“Obesity is a huge problem in Lancaster. Post-partum information to help get the baby weight off
doesn’t happen anymore in a huge number of patients.”
PROVIDERS RECOGNIZE THAT WE NEED TO DO BETTER

10. “The system doesn’t give you information. They feel like with the Internet it’s
your job to know what all your options are.”
“I was relaying to the consultants that breastfeeding was excruciatingly painful and they said ‘oh don’t worry it
gets better.’”
“Post-birth I felt very isolated. I went from constant support and contact to feeling like
simply because a 6 week appt went well everything is back to normal health-wise.”
“Nobody explained to me why I couldn’t have skin on skin time.
I think I will be mad about it for the rest of my life.”
“I don’t really have any mom friends. It’s definitely lonely feeling none of my friends are in the same
stage as me anymore.”
“I gained 60 pounds with my pregnancy. I was on medication that they told me might make
me gain weight. All they really did to help me manage my weight was tell me ‘watch what
you’re eating.’”
MOMS FEEL – AND SUFFER FOR - THE GAPS

11. THERE ARE PAINPOINTS AND OPPORTUNITIES ALL ALONG THE JOURNEY

12. 2 THE OPPORTUNITY

13. Pregnancy Delivery
Insights
Postpartum
OB Intake Packet SMS Support
Prenatal Fitness Class
Postpartum Fitness
Class
Inpatient Lactation
Maternity Navigator Appt
Patients typically don’t see
a provider until 8-10
weeks, leaving them with
unanswered questions and
anxiety.
Most first time parents
have no idea what to
expect regarding their
pregnancy and postpartum
experience.
Women want fitness and
nutrition options during
pregnancy, and are
looking for resources.
Information needs to be
readily accessible online
and via mobile devices.
Women don’t want added
appointments and some
are foregoing traditional
birth classes.
Women are looking to
connect with one another
in-person and online.
Mom’s lactation needs are
unique and should be
treated as such.
Commercial moms need
more support following
birth.
Integrated Maternity Education
Pregnancy App

14. IMPROVING CARE POSITIVELY
IMPACTS THE BOTTOM LINE
ACCESS EXPERIENCE PEOPLE
Increase
managed
lives
Increase
likelihood to
recommend
Improve
organizational
retention
FINANCE
Increase
operating
margin
QUALITY
Reduce
30-day
re-admissions
by 2%

15. 3 THE VISION

16. Redefine the pregnancy and
birth experience by looking at
a woman’s journey holistically,
and creating content that
shepherds her from the
beginning of pregnancy to the
critical months post-birth, and
by championing and supporting
each mom’s individual choices
and needs.

17. PREGNANCY EDUCATION & PREPAREDNESS
Moms don’t feel prepared when they arrive at the hospital to
deliver, and they also feel under-educated when they leave
with their baby. A content strategy that informs and engages
mom and her support partner with snackable, contextual
content served in various formats will help make information
stickier and more relevant.
How we will do it
• Better communication and expectation setting
through:
o Partner education
o C-section education
o Induction education
• Content strategy via iBirth application and “Smart”
OB/GYN waiting room experiences
• Hands-on “Labor Lab” and facility tour apart from
L&D class
• Genius Bar environment to hear TED style talks on
key topics and engage w/ hands-on information
• Introduction to PCP practice with call center
integration for follow up

18. FEEL GOODS AND AMENITIES
There are many little ways that we can make mom and
her family or support team feel taken care of during the
in-hospital experience. A curated list of amenities will
ensure that the birth experience feels modern, fresh, and
focused on the consumer.
How we will do it
• Repositioning of first meal as a “celebratory”
meal
• Creation of a go—home meal
• OneView rollout prioritization
• Couplet Care schedule management
• Create and market existing and new amenities
such as massage, sibling gift, branded blankets
and hats

19. How we will do it
• Post-partum navigator follow up via phone/text for
moms 2 days – 2 weeks:
o Assistance setting up Primary Care relationship
o High risk moms within 5 days to conduct post
delivery survey
• Proactive connection via tele-medicine or F2F specialist
for high-risk conditions
• Curated and clinically approved educational content to
help mom with:
o Post partum emotions
o Lactation challenges
o Taking care of baby
o Nutrition and fitness support
o Returning to work
• Lactation consultant/breastfeeding support at Pediatric
offices
• Mom groups with visiting “experts” on key topics
4TH TRIMESTER PROGRAM
Moms are asking for 360 support to feel informed,
supported and empowered after they get home with their
baby. Through relevant content, access to specialists, and
creation of community we can provide a safety net for
lactation struggles, nutritional needs, and emotional
challenges.

20. MARKETING OUR STORY
First person storytelling is a powerful way to enable moms to
better understand the potential outcomes of her birthing
journey, as well as to help her feel more confident that
regardless of how she may struggle, she can end up feeling
like a strong, empowered mom.
How we will do it
• Identify women who have given or are preparing
to give birth and are willing to share their story
• Provide them with Pixels or iPhones to capture
their story
• Begin seeding #mybirthstory or similar hashtag
• Incentivize other women to share videos or
images to the same hashtag
• Videos and images can be used across social
media, in practice waiting rooms, in iBirth app,
etc.
#mybirthstory

21. 4 WHY IT MATTERS

22. THE SITUATION CONTINUES TO DECLINE

23. THANK YOU