August 5, 2024 – Melbourne, FL –– The Preeclampsia Foundation provided 100 Cuff Kits™, individual packages of self-measured blood pressure cuff and educational materials about the importance of blood pressure monitoring in pregnancy, to their partners at Healthy Start Coalition of Brevard County (HSCBC). The kits will be distributed to expectant and new moms through the Brevard Healthy Start program, to help ensure that they can monitor their blood pressure during and after their pregnancies.

“The national headquarters of the Preeclampsia Foundation are here in Melbourne, FL, so we’ve always appreciated the work that our partners at the Healthy Start Coalition of Brevard County do to especially reach moms who need resources to support healthy pregnancies and families,” said Preeclampsia Foundation Director of Communications Laney Poye, who was on-site with Cuff Kit™ Program Coordinator Randy Fillmore to help present the Cuff Kits™.

Preeclampsia, which affects 5-8% of all pregnancies in the US, is characterized by high blood pressure during pregnancy and the postpartum period, is a leading cause of maternal and infant illness and death nationwide. Recent research has also shown that non-Hispanic Black women may be particularly vulnerable to developing the disease and have worse outcomes.

The Healthy Start program provides pregnant moms, newborns and families with children up to age 3 with education, support and resources they need to have a healthy pregnancy and a healthy baby. The goal of Healthy Start is to reduce infant mortality, reduce the number of low birth weight babies and improve health and developmental outcomes of all Florida’s babies. Florida’s Healthy Start was enacted by state legislation in 1991 with the goals of reducing infant mortality, reducing the number of low birth weight babies and improving health and developmental outcomes for all Florida’s babies.

“Healthy Start services are available to all pregnant women and mothers of newborns and is not based on income or insurance, but solely on risk factors that may be present during pregnancy or at the birth of the baby,” said HSCBC Executive Director Jennifer Schwalb Floyd. “It’s our goal to ensure every mom and baby has the support and resources they need to have healthy pregnancies and healthy families.”

The Preeclampsia Foundation has partnered with Healthy Start Coalition programs across the state of Florida, as well as with the National Healthy Start Association nationwide, to provide educational materials and Cuff Kits™ to mothers who may be at risk for poor birth outcomes.

The Cuff Kit™ program, initially launched to support increase in telehealth monitoring during COVID-19, includes a pregnancy-validated home blood pressure cuff and educational materials to train patients on how to accurately take and record their blood pressure. The program provides flexibility in use across multiple clinical or home visitation settings (those with and without telehealth options) because of its app integration capabilities and inclusion of a traditional paper blood pressure log and instruction sheet that is available in 12 different global languages.

For more information about the Cuff Kit, please visit www.preeclampsia.org/the-cuff-project

About the Preeclampsia Foundation

The Preeclampsia Foundation is a U.S.-based 501(c)(3) non-profit organization established in 2000 to improve the outcomes of hypertensive disorders of pregnancy by educating, supporting, and engaging the community, improving healthcare practices, and finding a cure. We envision a world where preeclampsia and related hypertensive disorders of pregnancy no longer threaten the lives of mothers and their babies. For more information, visit www.preeclampsia.org.

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