MOBILE, Ala (WKRG) — USA Health Children’s & Women’s Hospital is developing measures to decrease deaths following childbirth.

Innovations developed by the team include easy-to-wear medical wristbands that will alert healthcare providers of risk to their post-natal patients and notify them of any birth-related complications suffered. The bracelets will also include patient-specific information such as labels for “I Just Delivered”, “Preeclampsia” or “Pregnancy/Infant Loss”.

“We are asking new moms to wear [the bracelets] for six weeks after delivery…to identify them and help remove any delays if they require medical care,” said Teneshia Edwards, RNC-OB and Mother-Baby Unit leader at Children’s & Women’s Hospital. “The bottom line is we want to save lives.”

These bracelets were developed as part of a six-month initiative to better understand postpartum inequalities and reduce maternal illnesses/deaths. Because of the program’s success, Children’s & Women’s has been chosen to participate in Eliminating Inequalities and Reducing Maternal Mortality and Morbidity, a project led by the Institute for Healthcare Improvement and in partnership with Merck for Mothers. They hope to make changes to clinical and administrative processes, ensuring safer and more equitable postpartum care for all mothers.

Representatives from USA Health and the University of South Alabama will have the opportunity to use AdaptX software to collect and synthesize data on the processes of care, gathered from the electronic medical record. These results can then be divided and analyzed based on race, ethnicity, provider, or unit. The information can then be given to healthcare providers and used to enact impactful changes in their patients’ postpartum care.

According to the press release from USA Health, initiatives like this have potential to begin eliminating inequality in healthcare.