Dr Mary Norine Walsh on Being Your Own Advocate

Transcript

During your address at the American College of Cardiology meeting this year, you talked about the importance of being your own advocate in the healthcare system. How does that message apply to women in receiving postpartum care?

Well, when a woman is receiving postpartum care, being her own advocate is asking to know, 'What is my blood pressure, what is my weight, what would you advise my weight to be? Did I develop gestational hypertension or diabetes during my pregnancy?' Understanding her own history is really a way for a woman to advocate for herself.

Importantly, if she's not receiving that information from the clinician she's seeing, seeking that information with a different clinician.