WASHINGTON, DC — The Association of Women’s Health, Obstetric, and Neonatal Nurses (AWHONN) is proud to announce the receipt of a generous grant from Merck for Mothers to advance its POST-BIRTH Warning Signs (PBWS) Dissemination and Scalability Project. This initiative is part of AWHONN’s ongoing commitment to addressing gaps in post-discharge education and resources, empowering patients, and supporting clinicians with life-saving postpartum care tools. 

To enhance the existing PBWS program, AWHONN has introduced a suite of new and expanded resources: 

  • PBWS Save Your Life Handouts: They are now available in 50 languages, ensuring accessibility for diverse patient populations. 
    • A patient-facing video reinforces the Save Your Life handout content, providing standardized explanations of potentially life-threatening complications, translated into ten languages. 
    • A clinician-facing video calls healthcare professionals to action, urging them to adopt a standardized discharge education approach with the message: “Take a Seat, Have a Chat, and Save a Life.” 
  • Supportive Materials: Vinyl clings and magnets in Spanish and English, available for purchase, complement the Save Your Life handouts. The updated PBWS toolkit also includes templates in all 50 languages. 
  • Save Your Life Mobile Application: A newly-launched app offers patients and their support networks easy access to the Save Your Life handout and a library of frequently asked questions. 

Focusing on Rural and Low-Resource Facilities
AWHONN is working to provide targeted education and resources to patients and clinicians in rural and low-resource facilities, including critical access hospitals, emergency departments, and maternal care deserts. Over the past year, AWHONN has conducted research to evaluate the impact of PBWS education in these settings. The findings from this research will be presented at the 2025 AWHONN Annual Conference in Orlando, Florida, during a dedicated Merck for Mothers Grant Panel discussion. 

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About AWHONN: The Association of Women’s Health, Obstetric and Neonatal Nurses (AWHONN) is a 501(c)3 nonprofit membership organization. Our mission is to empower and support nurses caring for women, newborns, and their families through research, education, and advocacy. 

About Merck for Mothers:  Merck for Mothers is Merck’s global initiative to help create a world where no woman has to die while giving life. Applying Merck’s business and scientific resources, Merck for Mothers works with grantees and collaborators to improve the health and well-being of women during pregnancy, childbirth and the months after. Merck for Mothers is known as MSD for Mothers outside the United States and Canada. For more information, visit www.MerckforMothers.com.