TECHNOLOGY IMPROVEMENTS

New Website Means Better Mobility, Response to Visitors' Most Common Needs

PATIENT SUPPORT AND EDUCATION 

Inaugural Patient Advisory Council to Improve Diverse Patient Representation 

May is national Preeclampsia Awareness Month, as designated by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. To build awareness of preeclampsia, a life-threatening disorder of pregnancy and the postpartum period, the Preeclampsia Foundation is launching a month-long education campaign using the theme: Take the Preeclampsia Pledge - Know the Symptoms. Spread the Word. In addition, thousands of families in 38 cities will be participating in The Promise Walk for Preeclampsia.

"A key message throughout all our activities is that every pregnant woman should receive detailed information about preeclampsia and its symptoms," said the Foundation's Executive

 Director Eleni Tsigas. "Expectant mothers who know what to be aware of play a vital role as the 'first responder' to preeclampsia symptoms. Our research has shown it can literally be a matter of life and death for many mothers and babies." 

Promise Walks in the 38 participating cities are family-style events. "You will see a lot of babies in strollers, guest speakers, appearances by media personalities, raffles, health screenings, children's activities, and memorial events," said the Foundation's Director of Community Relations Laney Poye. Visit http://www.promisewalk.org to register or support a Promise Walk, including signing up for a Virtual Walk if there's not one near you.

National sponsors for the 2014 Promise Walk for Preeclampsia™ are BabyCenter, Happy Family Organic Superfoods, MultiVu/PR Newswire, and PerkinElmer Labs.

Details about other #PreAM events and new content that you can use to educate your friends, family and followers can be found here.

A systematic review conducted by the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) for the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) and published today in Annals of Internal Medicine found that low dose aspirin beginning as early as the second trimester of pregnancy may prevent negative health outcomes. Taking low dose aspirin was found to show no harm to the mother or baby, although understanding of long-term effects is still limited. The Task Force's purpose was to review the evidence for benefits and harms of low-dose aspirin for preventing morbidity and mortality from preeclampsia. 

Eleni Tsigas, Executive Director of the Preeclampsia Foundation, responded to this draft recommendation, "The best available evidence suggests that women at highest risk for preeclampsia should consider taking daily low-dose aspirin beginning late in the first trimester (by 13 weeks). Taking aspirin does not guarantee prevention of preeclampsia, but it is one more thing that women can do with relative safety to reduce their risk." 

Read the whole story and details for what this means for your risk reduction here.

The Preeclampsia Foundation announced the recent addition of five new board members representing diverse professional expertise, as well as personal experience with preeclampsia. The all-volunteer Board of Directors provides oversight, governance and strategic direction for the Preeclampsia Foundation.

It is the Board's responsibility is to ensure the Foundation's mission is being executed as effectively as possible while ensuring fiscal responsibility and transparency, all within the duties of care, loyalty and obedience to which every not-for-profit board of directors is beholden.

"I'm confident the expertise we recently added to the Board will be a tremendous advantage for the future of the Foundation," said Katie Rielly-Gauvin, Chairman of the Board of Directors.

A lawyer, communicator, biotech entrepreneur, physician, and educator will contribute their professional expertise of the Board of Directors. 

Read the rest of the announcement.  Bios of all our Board members can be found here.

NEWS FROM HEADQUARTERS

A Fond Farewell to a Colleague and Friend

Angela came to us in 2010, shortly after we moved our operations to Brevard County, Florida, and literally built our infrastructure from the ground up. Her relentless passion for top quality work, gold standard business practices, and efficiency have allowed us to be effective, saved us money, and earned us the accolades of the leading charity watchdog organizations. Nobody has been more driven to see every gift to the Preeclampsia Foundation maximized for our mission. And she herself has been part of that mission. As a former nurse, she also had the skills and compassion to spend hours on our Hotline, educating and supporting hundreds of survivors or their family members. 

And of course, we wish Angela a speedy return to the fullness of health so that she may enjoy her family, her friends, and all the things that bring her personal joy.

It will be nearly impossible to replace a woman who not only shouldered an enormous amount of responsibility, but also cared deeply about the work we do. However, we are executing a replacement strategy now, beginning with the addition this week of Kerrie Smith, a part-time Accounting Manager who will assume the financial duties of the organization.