March of Dimes and AMAG Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Announce First Joint Supportive Pregnancy Care Program
March 20 2019 - 8:00AM
March of Dimes and AMAG Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAG) today
announced Baystate Medical Center’s Wesson Women’s Clinic in
Springfield, Mass. as the first Supportive Pregnancy Care (SPC)
site, supported by AMAG to help improve mom and baby health during
pregnancy, labor and delivery, and infancy.
The March of Dimes SPC program offers prenatal
care in a group setting with moms-to-be of similar gestational
ages. At each group session, women learn to perform their own
self-care by measuring and recording their own weight and blood
pressure with the help of a facilitator. A licensed obstetric
provider meets individually with each woman to perform a physical
assessment and discuss specific concerns in a semi-private area
within the group space. During each SPC visit, women have more time
with their health care providers than they would during
conventional individual prenatal checkups, and benefit not only
from prenatal care education, but also from the vital social and
emotional support they receive from other mothers.
“We know that limited access to quality
healthcare during pregnancy, exacerbated by racial and ethnic
disparities, plays a decisive role in the rising rate of preterm
birth in the United States. In fact, women of color are up to 50
percent more likely to deliver prematurely,” says Julie Krop, M.D.,
chief medical officer and executive vice president of development
at AMAG. “AMAG and March of Dimes share a passion and commitment to
improving maternal health and prenatal outcomes. We believe an
innovative approach like the SPC program can help play a key role
in breaking down some of the barriers these expectant mothers
encounter during their pregnancy—hopefully leading to fewer preterm
births.”
“The SPC environment can empower women to take
control of their pregnancy care and fosters relationships that can
last throughout their pregnancies and beyond,” Dr. Eilean Attwood,
Medical Director of Wesson Women’s Clinic says. “National research
has shown that a group setting for prenatal care is associated with
fewer preterm births, reduced incidence of low-birth-weight
infants, and shorter neonatal intensive care stays.”
SPC also includes web-based tools and a social
media platform to enable mothers to connect and socialize with each
other online outside the group sessions and access helpful
information on healthy pregnancies. The program is open to any
expecting mother interested in participating, regardless of
insurance coverage.
With support from AMAG, March of Dimes is able
to bring SPC to more locations and with more participating care
providers. March of Dimes currently operates SPC pilot sites in
Tenn. and Ohio, and plans to open two additional sites at Baystate
facilities in Mass. in the next few months. Other SPC sites will be
opening at:
- Willow Creek Women’s
Hospital, Johnson, Ark.;
- Mommy and Me Clinic at Arrowhead
Regional Medical Center, Riverside Calif.;
- Lovelace Medical Group,
Albuquerque, N.M.;
- Montefiore Comprehensive Family
Care Center, Bronx, N.Y.;
- Memorial Health University Medical
Center, Savannah, G.A.
One in 10 babies in the United States is born
premature (before 37 weeks of pregnancy), meaning that the U.S. has
one of the worst preterm birth rates of any high-income country in
the world. The 2018 Premature Birth Report Card from March of
Dimes, released on November 1, shows that preterm birth rates rose
again last year for the third year in a row. Babies who survive an
early birth often have lifelong health issues such as learning
disabilities, vision and hearing loss. Even infants born just a few
weeks early have a greater risk of respiratory distress syndrome
(RDS), feeding difficulties, temperature instability, which can
increase the risk for hypothermia, jaundice and delayed brain
development.
AMAG Pharmaceuticals, Inc., is also
participating in the March of Dimes Prematurity Campaign
Collaborative, which aims to achieve health equity and demonstrate
improvements in preterm birth outcomes.
About AMAGAMAG is a
pharmaceutical company focused on bringing innovative products to
patients with unmet medical needs. The company does this by
leveraging its development and commercial expertise to invest in
and grow its pharmaceutical products across a range of therapeutic
areas, including women’s health. For additional company
information, please visit
www.amagpharma.com. About March of
DimesMarch of Dimes leads the fight for the health of all
moms and babies. We support research, lead programs and provide
education and advocacy so that every family can have the best
possible start. Building on a successful 80-year legacy of impact
and innovation, we stand up for every mom and every baby. Visit
marchofdimes.org or nacersano.org for more information. Visit
shareyourstory.org for comfort and support. Find us on Facebook and
follow us on Instagram and Twitter.
Forward-Looking Statements This press
release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of
the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and other
federal securities laws. Any statements contained herein which do
not describe historical facts, including but not limited to beliefs
that in collaborating with March of Dimes, AMAG will help improve
mom and baby health during pregnancy, labor and delivery, and
infancy, and that the SPC program can help play a key role in
breaking down some of the barriers expectant mothers encounter
during their pregnancy and potentially decrease the number of
preterm births; statements regarding the Baystate Medical Center’s
Wesson Women’s Clinic and the supportive pregnancy care environment
empowering women to take control of their pregnancies are
forward-looking statements which involve risks and uncertainties
that could cause actual results to differ materially from those
discussed in such forward-looking statements.
Such risks and uncertainties include, among others, those
identified in AMAG’s Securities and Exchange
Commission (SEC) filings, including AMAG’s Annual Report on
Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2018 and subsequent
filings with the SEC which are available at the SEC’s website at
www.sec.gov. We caution you not to place undue reliance on any
forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date they
are made.
AMAG disclaims any obligation to publicly update
or revise any such statements to reflect any change in expectations
or in events, conditions or circumstances on which any such
statements may be based, or that may affect the likelihood that
actual results will differ from those set forth in the
forward-looking statements.
AMAG Pharmaceuticals® is a registered trademark
of AMAG Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Other trademarks referred
in this report are the property of their respective owners.
Contact: |
Michele Kling, March of
Dimes, (914) 843-9487, mkling@marchofdimes.org |
|
Sarah Connors, AMAG
Pharmaceuticals, 781-296-0722, sconnors@amagpharma.com
|
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