Medical group offering Virtual OB maternity care program

By Tracye Hutchins

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    ATLANTA, Georgia (WANF) — Access to an obstetrician is a huge factor across south and north Georgia.

Pediatrix Medical Group is helping close that gap with a new maternity care virtual program by Northside Women’s Specialists.

Atlanta News First met up with the mother of 3-month-old Emma at her Atlanta home.

You could say she is already the result of modern technology.

Emma’s mom, Stephanie Berrier, received some of her pre-natal and post-natal care virtually.

“I’m in a hybrid work environment, I was able to either step into an office or, at home, go from one work meeting to my doctor’s appointment back to my next work meeting, so, it was really about time more than anything for me and convenience,” says Berrier.

She started using the program when she was 28 weeks pregnant with Emma.

Berrier received a kit with a blood pressure cuff, a fetal heart rate monitor, and a scale.

She was able to log her own vitals and send them through an app to her physician, Dr. Jill Purdie.

“Most patients have 15 minutes on my schedule and that includes getting them ready to see me, so, in this situation, they still have 15 minutes but they’re really spending most of that time just talking to me,” says Dr. Purdie, OB/GYN and Medical Director at Northside Women’s Specialists.

The virtual visits continue six months after birth as well.

Doctors can monitor moms for signs of postpartum depression or preeclampsia.

The virtual program saves them from taking time off work, sitting in traffic, and waiting in a doctor’s office. It even saves them from having to get a babysitter for their other children.

That’s precious time some mothers just don’t have.

Dr. Purdie says, “I have a patient that I’m not sure I would have seen her more than 3 times if she hadn’t been in this program. To be honest, for those very reasons, I don’t have a car, I don’t have a babysitter, but at least she was checking her blood pressure at home, she was listening to her baby at home and I could sit and talk with her.”

For Berrier it’s given her more time with sweet baby Emma.

“I was logging and answering questions every week after I delivered so I did feel very closely monitored,” Berrier says.

You can find out more information about the Virtual OB maternity care program here: mednax.com/practice/womensspecialistsnorthside

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