Mirvie conducted the first ever “Future of Pregnancy Health” Report in the fall of 2022, asking over a thousand new and expecting moms about their views on pregnancy health. As a company laser-focused on the future of pregnancy health, we wanted to hear firsthand what women care about most in pregnancy. We asked them a broad range of questions, from their views on their healthcare to their trust in their team, and gleaned powerful insights along the way.
One of the most inspiring learnings from the survey relates to the finding that over 90% of women said they would want a predictive test for preeclampsia or other pregnancy complications. Clearly, new and expecting moms want more information about their pregnancies and potential complications. And even more powerfully, women told us that they would act on these results. A staggering 88% said they would feel more motivated to follow their care providers’ medication recommendations. More than 90% said they would want a personalized plan for their care, would like to sit down with their care provider to make sure they knew when to call with concerns, and were interested in options for home blood pressure monitoring.
Women tend to prioritize their health during pregnancy in a way that is unique compared to other times in life, because it’s often a time of high motivation to do everything possible to protect their growing babies. So, these survey results might not seem all that surprising at first glance.
But we know that when it comes to pregnancy complications, many women today aren’t following the advice of their care teams. In the case of preeclampsia, we know that taking low-dose aspirin is associated with as much as a 75% reduction in the risk of preterm preeclampsia,1 yet many aren’t taking it when recommended. In one study, less than half of those prescribed aspirin actually took it.2 Why would this be?
When the women were asked why they didn’t take aspirin as prescribed, the most common answer was, ‘it was not applicable to my situation.’ Although every woman in that study had risk factors putting her at increased risk for preeclampsia, women resoundingly did not feel that the risk applied to them.
However, with the “Future of Pregnancy Health” Report, we learned that expecting moms strongly desire an objective and straightforward assessment of their risk. Furthermore, they would act on this information. We know there is so much vital work to be done to improve pregnancy health in the United States. The work Mirvie is doing to better understand the underlying biology of pregnancy and predict complications months before they arise is going to help fill the unmet need that moms are telling us they have today: they want more information, they need more information, and they’re ready and willing to act on it.
