5 BMC Health Innovations Created by Women, for Women

Women’s History Month aims to commemorate and encourage the study, acknowledgement, and celebration of the vital role women have played in American History. This year’s theme, “Moving Forward Together! Women Educating & Inspiring Generations,” underscores the value of working together to achieve collective growth and advancement in all aspects of life. In healthcare, a way this is seen and achieved is by centering women — patients and providers alike — into the design of care. 

From inventions to interventions, these five articles capture key initiatives where Boston Medical Center’s (BMC) women experts championed women’s health. From closing gaps in our postpartum care plans, to modernizing birthing practices, these programs underscore the ways in which BMC has recentered women within women’s care.  

#1 “A New Shared Decision-Making Tool Empowers Patients in Fibroids Management” 

By the age of 50, four out of five people with uteruses will develop uterine fibroids. As a result, effective fibroids care management is a pressing priority for BMC. Funded by BMC’s Health Equity Accelerator, women leaders of the Fibroid Center piloted a shared decision-making tool that puts patients at the center of their care. Learn how this tool is empowering patients to work alongside their providers toward a better plan for fibroid management and treatment. 

#2 “Addiction Treatment Focusing on Women Is Key to Parity in Care” 

Women with substance use disorder (SUD) face a unique set of challenges that pre-existing care models often haven’t taken into consideration. As a result, women with SUDs have decreased access to, and lower engagement with, addiction treatment. To address this missing perspective in SUD care, BMC’s leading women addiction experts have introduced a new fellowship to recenter women in their SUD care. Learn how this program is training the next advocates for women’s health.  

#3 “How a Bias-Breaking Approach Increased PrEP Offers to Women of Color” 

Pre-exposure prophylaxis, or PreP, is a highly effective treatment for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). However, the benefits of PreP have not been offered as often for women, even when they may be effective in bettering outcomes.in the way they have for men. In response, BMC launched a new intervention aimed at improving PreP access for women. Launched by women, learn how this new approach is showing promise at closing this care gap. 

#4 “Birth Sisters: The Case for Hospital-Supported Doula Programs” 

In the past hundred years, the role of family and community throughout pregnancy, delivery, and the postpartum process has been replaced by medical teams. To bring back the positive communal elements of the past, BMC has introduced a doula program, “Birth Sisters,” to make mothers feel more supported during pregnancy, birth, and the postpartum period. Read more about the program, which is run by women leaders, and what patients are saying about this new approach. 

#5 “Curbside Care for Moms and Babies Changes Postnatal Care Vision”

Known as the “fourth trimester,” continuous comprehensive healthcare in the six weeks after birth is vital for long term physical and mental health of the mother and baby. Recognizing the gravity of this time, BMC announced a program to improve access to postnatal care for mothers and infants. Learn how women experts at BMC championed the health of mothers and their babies during COVID-19, and read on about how how the program has had a lasting impact post-pandemic thanks to support from the Boston Celtics’ Shamrock Foundation.