Polk County Health Department Announces Moms With Monitors Initiative

POLK COUNTY, FL — The Florida Department of Health in Polk County has partnered with the League of Women Voters of Polk to announce Moms with Monitors. As part of the department's Polk Health Equity Plan, Moms with Monitors provide both free blood pressure monitors and education to DOH-Polk's pregnant and post-partum clients.

LWVP, along with DOH-Polk, helped establish this project as well as provided the funding for the purchase of the blood pressure monitors. DOH-Polk staff has started to distribute the blood pressure monitors to clients and begun educating them on usage.

Since the launch of Moms with Monitors in December, it has provided nine blood pressure monitors to pregnant and post-partum DOH-Polk clients.

Moms with Monitors is part of DOH-Polk's efforts to reduce disparities in infant mortality, poor maternal health outcomes and chronic disease rates in Polk County. In Polk, Black infants are more likely to die before their first birthday than white infants. Black women are more likely to experience delivery complications than white women. In addition, Black and Hispanic populations are at increased risk for uncontrolled high blood pressure and diabetes.

The goal of this new initiative is to help those most at risk for poor birth outcomes by better managing their health and by taking control of their blood pressure.

If you are a DOH-Polk client who is pregnant or post-partum, you can get more information by calling the department at 863-519-7900.

This press release was produced by the Florida Department of Health. The views expressed here are the author's own.