05.2025 Part 2: Pharmacists supporting maternal health

In this episode, Trisha LaPointe, Professor of Pharmacy Practice from Massachussets College of Pharmacy discusses the pharmacists role in supporting maternal health through early risk identification, patient education and collaboration with the healthcare team.  

Each month, APhA will release two podcast episodes offering a fresh dose of education highlights, practice pearls, and insights to inform your pharmacy practice and advance patient care.  Listen to new episodes at your convenience! Both members and nonmembers can log into their APhA pharmacist.com Learning Library account to successfully complete a short assessment at the end of each month to earn 0.5 hours of CE credits (.05 CEU).

Tune in now on our website or subscribe via YouTube, Spotify, or Apple Podcasts.

Disclaimer: The content is intended for informational purposes only and should not be considered or taken as medical advice. The views and opinions expressed in this program are those of the speakers and do not necessarily reflect the opinions or positions of any entities they represent or its employees.

Episode Transcript

(00:04):
Welcome to the first film.
My name is Yara Al-Shaer and I serveas executive fellow in Education
here at APhA, And I'm very excitedto be the host for today's episode.
Today we'll be exploring how pharmacistscan support early risk identification
for complications like gestationaldiabetes and hypertension,
improve patientunderstanding and maternal health guidance

(00:25):
through effective communication,and build collaborative care models
and increase access to servicesin underserved communities.
With me today is a mentorand someone who I've long looked up to.
Trisha LaPointe, a clinical pharmacistand dedicated advocate for women's health.
In part one of the series,we explored the Who 2024 maternal health

(00:45):
recommendations from physical activityto symptom management.
So be sure to check that out.
Today in part 2, we'll shift our focusto pharmacist led interventions
that close maternal health gapswith a spotlight on early screening,
health literacy, and systemlevel collaboration across care settings.
Trisha, welcome!
To start off,
could you please introduce yourselvesto your listeners

(01:06):
and share a bitabout your role and responsibilities?
Hi. Good morning.
Thank you.
So yes, my name is, Trisha LaPointeand I have been a faculty member,
Massachusetts College of Pharmacyand Health Sciences for a little over
20 years.
Majority of my practicehas been inpatient,
general medicine,where I'm currently practicing.

(01:29):
And taking pharmacy studentswho are, doing
their APPE rotations at LowellGeneral Hospital.
Thank you! Let's begin with key
public health opportunity- early riskscreening in pregnancy.
Trisha,how can pharmacists help identify patients
at risk for complicationslike gestational diabetes or hypertension?
Ensure they're referred appropriately?

(01:51):
Thank you, that's a great question!
And I think particularly insome of the unique settings
that pharmacists are able to practicein, like in abulatory care, clinics.
And also, you know, the pharmaciststhat are out working in the community,
I think can be a great resourcefor patients,
just because they have access,easy access to,

(02:14):
to those patient populations.
And medication management
is a big thing out in the ambcare in communities.
So helping patients to really understandtheir medications, especially
when we talk about pregnant patientsand the safety of those medications.
Pharmacists are involveda lot with screenings as well,
like you mentioned,you know, high blood pressure.

(02:36):
And I think just being the resourcefor them to make sure that you're
encouraging patients to receive, maternal care throughout their pregnancy
because there are significant milestonesthrough, you know, throughout pregnancy
and one of them being aroundthat 20th, 22nd
week of pregnancy where they do,gestational diabetes screening.

(02:56):
And I know you
mentioned the world Health Organizationand how they have specific, you know,
suggestions or guidelinesfor what antenatal care looks like.
And that includes, you know,having at least eight visits,
having an ultrasound,focusing on nutrition.
And also the mental health aspect.
Thank you for sharing that.
So let's now talk about healthliteracy and communication.

(03:18):
I knowpharmacists are one of the most accessible
health care providersas you just mentioned.
So what are some effective strategiesfor helping pregnant patients understand
the Who recommendations, especially whenthere is language or literacy barriers?
Yeah, sure. So thatI mean that obviously is a big concern.
So I think pharmacists being
aware of cultural competency.

(03:39):
So really understanding,
you know, where the patient is, whattheir norms, what their practices are.
The other thing too, is, you know,sometimes
when some of us may be more visualtype learners, understanding things
and usually using visual propsand things like that
to help patients, whether that belike a chart or a diagram or

(04:01):
even like a picture of what might be goingon during their pregnancy at that point.
Other things is using,you know, simple language.
So staying away from, you know, the,the medical jargon, you know,
sometimesnot only do patients understand that,
I think sometimesit might be intimidating as well.
Like what's happening to what's gestation?
You know, the public doesn'treally understand those words.

(04:24):
I think there's a big space herefor technology and health outs.
Obviously, you know,when you're just talking about a language
barrier, you know, there's a lot of appsthat you can use for translation.
Other medical appsthat might be available to
might have language preferenceswithin them.
And I think that theseare helpful for patients

(04:46):
because it really allows a patientto engage in their care,
whether it's, you know, sending upreminders or, you know, understanding
where they are on a pregnancy andin the development and what's going on.
You know, nutrition is huge.
So getting any kind of supportyou might have for those,
particularly when we talk about folic acidsupplementation, and then, you know,

(05:09):
if it is strictly just a language barrier,you know,
utilizing any kind of interpreter servicesor technology to help with that.
That's a great perspective, especiallywhen incorporating technology and apps.
And finally, another area we're seeinggrow is interdisciplinary collaboration.
So can you share some examplesof successful pharmacies, provider

(05:31):
partnerships and maternal care,
whether through clinics, communitysettings or even like telehealth?
Sure. Yeah.
So like I mentioned earlier,you know, there are,
pharmacies that are actually outpracticing in the ambulatory care clinics.
So I think that in itselfmeans a lot of collaboration
because you're kind of workingon the same facility together.

(05:52):
But I
think to like, you know,even out in the community,
you know, there is a connect,you know, with the providers and,
you know, helping get patientsthe best care possible.
And, you know,I think when you mentioned about,
hypertension, you know,I think that's a key way
because we can obviously we canwe have the ability as pharmacists

(06:13):
to be able to assesssomeone's blood pressure pretty easily,
whether it's in the communityor ambulatory care setting.
But I think one of the ways, you know,we've seen maybe some collaboration is
when we talk about,you know, pre-eclampsia
and, you know,the US, preventative Health Service,
you know, has a recommendation out thereto use low dose

(06:36):
aspirin, 81mg in a patient populationthat's at risk.
So I think pharmacies can play a rolein kind of identifying who
those patients might be.
Do they already have hypertension priorto pregnancy in the obesity.
Are they in older age or pregnancy.
And then making that recommendation,
I think there's a lot of confusionout there when you see, pregnant

(06:57):
women being prescribed aspirin and kind ofseems like something we shouldn't
be doing, but actually,it has been shown to, be helpful
in pre-eclampsia, you know, patientsthat are at risk for pre-eclampsia.
So I think having that collaborationbetween,
you know, providers and pharmacyin the patient,
that's probably a good exampleof how that might work out now.
Awesome. Thank you. That's very helpful.

(07:19):
And we did try to highlighton the first episode
about pharmacist rolein prevention of hypertensive disorder.
And so thank you so much Trisha,and thank you for joining us today
and sharing your expertise!
This has been a thoughtful and inspiringlook at how pharmacists can lead
in improving outcomes in maternaland women's health.
So let's summarize major takeawaysfor our time here today, pharmacists

(07:41):
play a vital role in maternal healthby identifying early pregnancy risk,
bridging health literacygaps, and collaborating across
care teams to ensuretimely, patient centered interventions.
All right, folks, that's all for today'sepisode of The First Fill.
If you missed last week's episode,we explored the Who 2024 maternal health
recommendations from physical activityto symptom management,

(08:04):
so be sure to check that out.
And as always, don'tforget to visit the learning library
at pharmacist.com to earn CE creditfor this month's podcast.
We'd love to hear your feedbackon the new format.
Take care and thanks for listening!