Improving access to digital health is a bipartisan issue — and the composition of the Congressional Digital Health Caucus reflects that. Co-chaired by representatives across the political aisle, the caucus recently hosted a briefing focused on digital health for pregnancy and postpartum care. The panel included practicing OB/GYNs, academic physicians, and leaders from digital health companies focused on blood pressure monitoring, care navigation, and mental health.
The diversity of perspectives on the panel underscored a critical point of consensus: digital health is an essential tool to improve maternal health outcomes. Whether addressing hypertensive disorders of pregnancy (HDP), behavioral health needs, or social determinants of health (SDoH), digital solutions have a role to play across the risk spectrum — but only if implemented with intention and support.
Maternal Health Is Not a One-Patient Issue
It’s easy to think of maternal health in terms of the mother and baby, but the ripple effects extend far beyond. Partners, other children, and entire communities are impacted when a mother experiences complications or poor outcomes. These ripple effects are often overlooked and difficult to quantify — and yet, when it is collected, the data is clear. For example, more than half of postpartum depression cases are linked to mental health diagnoses in fathers.
Bottom line: a society's health is inseparable from the health of its mothers. Any federal agency pursuing population health improvement must prioritize maternal health as foundational.
Maternity Is More Than a Clinical Episode
Maternal health disparities are driven by complex, interlocking factors:
- Access to care, exacerbated by growing maternity care deserts and provider shortages
- Clinical trends, including rising rates of preeclampsia, high BMI, and low postpartum visit attendance
- Administrative burdens, like excessive documentation and lack of care standardization
These challenges demand equally comprehensive solutions. It’s not enough to distribute a blood pressure cuff or a glucose monitor and expect the patient to take it from there. Patients need education, support, and a system that ensures their data is used meaningfully. That means integrating wraparound services into digital care models — and paying for them.
RPM IS EFFECTIVE BUT NeedS Support
Remote Patient Monitoring (RPM) was a focal point of the discussion, with shared acknowledgment that reimbursement policies need to catch up to practice. Today, many providers are asked to support RPM without adequate reimbursement for all that it requires to be a successful tool — onboarding, training, data review, and follow-up. As one panelist noted, it’s far more effective to hand a patient a device in the office and walk them through a reading than to hope they figure it out at home, but often not financially viable.
Yet even when devices are used correctly, there are still gaps. One OG/GYN on the panel reflected: “RPM for BP improves ascertainment, but it's still unclear how to use that data.” More research, better clinical protocols, and analytic resources are needed to ensure RPM can reach its full potential — not just in generating data, but in driving better care.
Safety: The Hidden Barrier to Pregnancy and Birth
Concerns about declining birth rates in the U.S. came up in discussion, and they have sparked policy proposals to encourage population growth. To my mind, these efforts often miss a deeper truth: the biggest deterrent to pregnancy for many women isn’t financial — it’s fear. Fear that they or their baby won’t survive pregnancy or birth.
At Babyscripts, the importance of safety is a consistent theme in patient feedback.
“My care manager communicated the next steps in monitoring my blood pressure so I felt comfortable that the readings were being used to keep my baby and I safe.”
“[My favorite thing about the program was] the reminders and also knowing it alerted my provider if my BP was too high and I felt safe knowing I wasn't neglected. It was a wonderful program and probably saved my life.”
“I felt safe knowing I had a reliable machine to check my blood pressures and they could be directly communicated to my care team if dangerously high.”
“I have had preeclampsia twice in the past and lost a child in the process. This gives me peace of mind that baby is doing well and I can rush to the hospital if the cuff shows high blood pressure even without symptoms.”
The problems of population growth will not be resolved while women lack security going into pregnancy. Just as important as supporting parents after childbirth, we need to invest in making the maternity experience accessible, supportive, and grounded in what women actually need to feel safe, and digital health can play a pivotal role in making that a reality.
CLOSING THOUGHTS
Coming off of the briefing, there are a lot of reasons for optimism. It is encouraging to see bi-partisan lawmakers, clinicians, and innovators all aligned around the same message, armed with the data and expertise to make an impact on federal policy.
The tools are there to address the real needs of patients. Now it’s time to act — to build policies that reflect the real needs of patients and providers; to treat maternal health not as a siloed issue, but as central to the health of our country; and to make the U.S. a place where women feel safe giving birth.
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