Social Health X Foundation Expands its PressureCare Program to Support Maternal Wellness

Social Health X Foundation, a health equity organization located in Chatham, NJ, is proud to announce that it has expanded its PressureCare program to a second NJ WIC location.  WIC is a federal assistance program that provides supplemental nutrition to low-income women and their infants and children. 

Under SHX Foundation's pilot programs, WIC nutritionists help identify pregnant women who have been diagnosed with high blood pressure or have experienced a previous preeclampsia pregnancy.  SHX gives the women a free automatic medical-grade blood pressure cuff, a BP logbook, and easy-to-understand health information they need to protect themselves and their unborn children.  

The women log their blood pressure twice a day and share the information with their health care providers.  WIC nutritionists also meet with the women during their regularly scheduled visits, make sure their logging their BP,  and provide dietary and other lifestyle counseling to help them improve their health. 

The intervention program, which is available in English and Spanish, is essential because NJ and the US in general have higher maternal mortality rates compared to other industrialized nations.  In NJ, Black women are 7 X and Hispanic women are 3.5 X more likely to die of a pregnancy-related death than White women.  Most of these deaths are preventable and tend to occur among low-income moms with lower levels of education.  Many of these deaths are hypertension or heart-related.

Social Health X Foundation is also working with the Children's Home Society NJ Mercer County WIC program.  SHX Foundation is a non-profit organization.  Please consider making a donation and helping us expand our PressureCare kit program to help protect more pregnant women and their babies.