New Mom Extends Pregnancy Nine Weeks with Matria

Twins Born Three Instead of Eight Weeks Early

"If Matria had not been monitoring me, I wouldn't have known I was dilating," says Stacie Stumphauzer, who started showing signs of preterm labor at 25 weeks during a routine check-up with her OB/GYN. Sent home with a prescription medication to stop the labor symptoms, Stacie ended up in the hospital that night after she had six contractions. At the hospital, she was given a stronger dose of the same medication, which stopped the contractions.

At that point, Stacie's physician recommended that she consider home uterine activity monitoring for the remainder of her pregnancy, using Matria Healthcare's Preterm Labor Management service. Stacie thought it would take weeks to process the paperwork, but it took less than a day for Matria to get her on the service. A device to monitor her uterine contractions immediately was sent to her Keller, TX, home, and she started talking regularly by phone with Matria's obstetrical nurses, who answered questions, monitored her condition and provided advice, guidance and support.

After four weeks of monitoring, Stacie was at 29 weeks and started dilating again. "Everything happened so smoothly," she says. "A nurse called right away and told me to get to the hospital. By the time I arrived, the doctors were waiting for me because Matria had called ahead to arrange everything." At the hospital, a perinatologist prescribed a muscle relaxant to stop the uterine contractions and an IV to halt the labor.

Because Stacie's risk for preterm labor had increased significantly, her perinatologist prescribed a medication to be administered through a subcutaneous pump inserted into Stacie's thigh for the remainder of her pregnancy, which she learned how to replace herself every five days.

As a result of Matria's at-home monitoring service, which also included educational materials and calls from Matria's perinatal clinicians operating from one of Matria's 37 nationwide call centers, Stacie's pregnancy lasted 34 weeks, just three weeks shy of the ideal 37-week full-term period. Normal gestation is 40 weeks.

Originally due on Aug. 26, 2004, Stacie's daughter Sterling, 4 pounds and 15 ounces, and son, Seaton, 4 pounds and 8 ounces, were born July 17. "I had the babies on a Saturday, and they were ready to go home by Tuesday. I was the one who couldn't go home yet," says the 30-year-old first-time mother, who suffered from minor complications and had to remain in the hospital for a week.

Prolonging a pregnancy by five weeks can make a huge difference in the infant's health and in neonatal costs, says Stacie's primary nurse at Matria, Angie Drouant. "At 29 weeks, babies cannot breathe on their own yet," she says. "Babies born that early must be on ventilators. They are also not able to feed properly or regulate their own temperature. As a result, they have to be hospitalized in the neonatal intensive care unit for some time before they can come home. So every day we can keep them in the womb can go a long way."

Stacie was impressed, not just with Matria's at-home service, but also with how efficiently Matria handled the insurance company. "When my perinatologist suggested home monitoring, I was open to it," says Stacie. "But I assumed it would take forever for the insurance to approve the service if at all. And even if my insurance approved it, I thought it would take forever to set up the service. But Matria made it happen right away. They were out here in less than a day.

"It was great knowing there was always somebody to talk to 24 hours a day if I had a question or a problem," Stacie says. "Matria's informational notebook was also very informative and helpful. Any time I had a problem with anything, someone from Matria was there right away, like the time, I had a problem with my pump. It started beeping for no reason at midnight and somebody was there by 12:30. Whenever I had a problem, I never had to deal with calling my doctor and the hospital; the nurse always did it. All I had to worry about was getting there."

DISCLAIMER:  You should not expect to obtain results as favorable as those described in the testimonial set forth above.  An extended gestational duration is not guaranteed and individual results will vary.

The information contained in this testimonial is neither intended nor implied to be a substitute for professional medical advice nor is it intended to be used for medical diagnosis or treatment.