Stop. Look. Listen!
Created in memory of Tara Hansen and all other women who die from causes related to childbirth, the “Stop. Look. Listen!” Safety Campaign and New Jersey’s new Maternal Health Awareness Day every January 23rd #123forMOMS helps pregnant moms and their loved ones in addressing maternal health and safety. It encourages women and families to speak up if they feel something is wrong – and providers, to take heed of those concerns.
We at Mothers Monument promote the “Stop. Look. Listen!” campaign and encourage all states to follow New Jersey’s lead in establishing January 23 of each year as Maternal Health Awareness Day. Read more about this campaign and how it came about below:
Shortly after giving birth to her son Brandon in 2011, Tara Hansen – while still in the hospital – told health care providers her body didn’t feel right. But they considered her a healthy postpartum patient and sent her home.
Six days later, she died from an infection that had occurred during the birth…
Vowing to make an impact in his wife’s honor, Ryan, a Rutgers alumnus, launched the Tara Hansen Foundation in 2012 and forged a partnership with Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, where his mother, Patricia Hansen, is director of communications and public affairs.
With assistance from the medical school and Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital, the foundation developed the “Stop. Look. Listen!” campaign. Its goals are to increase public and professional awareness of pregnancy-related deaths, empower women to report pregnancy-related medical issues, and increase awareness and responsiveness among health care practitioners.
The campaign prompted a New Jersey law establishing January 23 of each year as Maternal Health Awareness Day – the first of its kind nationwide…
“Our goal is to empower women and families to advocate if they feel something is wrong and understand that no question about the mother-to-be or new mom’s health is inconsequential. For example, itchy skin could mean a liver or gall bladder problem, which was caused by the pregnancy. With ‘Stop. Look. Listen!’ clinicians need to stop whatever they are doing, look at the woman and conduct a full medical evaluation and, of course, listen carefully to what she and her family are saying about her concerns and how she is feeling…”
Read the rest of the article here.
Find more information on New Jersey’s Maternal Health Awareness Day here.
And read a special online publication on the “Stop. Look. Listen!” campaign here.
