Philips and March of Dimes Bring Maternal and Pregnancy Health Content to Philips Avent Pregnancy+ App

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Philips and March of Dimes Bring Maternal and Pregnancy Health Content to Philips Avent Pregnancy+ App

2025-05-28 19:17 Last Updated At：19:41

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. & ARLINGTON, Va.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 28, 2025--

Royal Philips (NYSE: PHG, AEX: PHIA), a global leader in health technology, and March of Dimes, the nation’s leading nonprofit fighting for the health of all moms and babies, today announced a collaboration aimed at improving maternal health education through the Philips Avent Pregnancy+ app. Philips will integrate essential March of Dimes content into the app to help improve health literacy and create awareness for topics such as preparing for a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) stay, preterm birth, and vaccinations.

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The new content will also emphasize the benefits of low dose aspirin, when clinically appropriate, as a preventive treatment for hypertensive disorders of pregnancy, including preeclampsia, aligning with March of Dimes’ Low Dose, Big Benefits Campaign. In addition, Philips and March of Dimes will collaborate to identify key research areas, leveraging aggregated app data and surveys to gather valuable insights that will help both organizations further educate and support the needs of mothers and babies.

“Our partnership with Philips reflects our shared commitment to ensuring families have access to trusted, timely information throughout pregnancy,” said Kelly Ernst, Senior Vice President and Chief Impact Officer at March of Dimes. “Whether it’s through our Mom and Baby Mobile Health Centers® or expanding digital health literacy via the Pregnancy+ app, we’re meeting families where they are. Initiatives like this represent a meaningful step forward in our mission to improve health outcomes for all moms and babies—and it’s partnerships like this that make that progress possible.”

Pregnancy+, the world’s #1 pregnancy app with more than 80 million lifetime downloads, provides information and guidance throughout a pregnancy including over 800 articles, lifelike 3D baby models, a weekly pregnancy tracker, and audio/video courses led by health and well-being experts. Philips will create awareness campaigns highlighting the new March of Dimes content, including relevant links and assets, that will have broad reach across the United States through the Pregnancy+ app.

“As we continue to seek solutions to address maternal health challenges, initiatives like this can contribute to meaningful change,” said Brenda Kapner, Regional Business Unit Leader, Mother & Childcare, Philips North America. “By combining our expertise and resources with those of March of Dimes, we aim to deliver accessible education and insights, while utilizing advanced data analysis to better understand and meet the needs of mothers and babies. Together, we have the opportunity to significantly impact maternal and child health outcomes.”

About Royal Philips

Royal Philips (NYSE: PHG, AEX: PHIA) is a leading health technology company focused on improving people’s health and well-being through meaningful innovation. Philips’ patient- and people-centric innovation leverages advanced technology and deep clinical and consumer insights to deliver personal health solutions for consumers and professional health solutions for healthcare providers and their patients in the hospital and the home.

Headquartered in the Netherlands, the company is a leader in diagnostic imaging, ultrasound, image-guided therapy, monitoring and enterprise informatics, as well as in personal health. Philips generated 2024 sales of EUR 18 billion and employs approximately 67,200 employees with sales and services in more than 100 countries. News about Philips can be found at www.philips.com/newscenter.

About March of Dimes

March of Dimes leads the fight for the health of all moms and babies. We support research, education, and advocacy, and provide programs and services so that every family can get the best possible start. Since 1938, we’ve built a successful legacy to support every pregnant person and every family. Visit marchofdimes.org or nacersano.org for more information.

Thousands of nurses go on strike at several major New York City hospitals

NEW YORK (AP) — Thousands of nurses in three hospital systems in New York City went on strike Monday after negotiations through the weekend failed to yield breakthroughs in their contract disputes.

The strike was taking place at The Mount Sinai Hospital and two of its satellite campuses, with picket lines forming. The other affected hospitals are NewYork-Presbyterian and Montefiore Medical Center in the Bronx.

About 15,000 nurses are involved in the strike, according to New York State Nurses Association.

“After months of bargaining, management refused to make meaningful progress on core issues that nurses have been fighting for: safe staffing for patients, healthcare benefits for nurses, and workplace violence protections,” the union said in a statement issued Monday. “Management at the richest hospitals in New York City are threatening to discontinue or radically cut nurses’ health benefits.”

The strike, which comes during a severe flu season, could potentially force the hospitals to transfer patients, cancel procedures or divert ambulances. It could also put a strain on city hospitals not involved in the contract dispute, as patients avoid the medical centers hit by the strike.

The hospitals involved have been hiring temporary nurses to try and fill the labor gap during the walkout, and said in a statement during negotiations that they would “do whatever is necessary to minimize disruptions.” Montefiore posted a message assuring patients that appointments would be kept.

“NYSNA’s leaders continue to double down on their $3.6 billion in reckless demands, including nearly 40% wage increases, and their troubling proposals like demanding that a nurse not be terminated if found to be compromised by drugs or alcohol while on the job," Montefiore spokesperson Joe Solmonese said Monday after the strike had started. "We remain resolute in our commitment to providing safe and seamless care, regardless of how long the strike may last.”

New York-Presbyterian accused the union of staging a strike to “create disruption,” but said in a statement that it has taken steps to ensure patients receive the care they need.

"We’re ready to keep negotiating a fair and reasonable contract that reflects our respect for our nurses and the critical role they play, and also recognizes the challenging realities of today’s healthcare environment,” the statement said.

The work stoppage is occurring at multiple hospitals simultaneously, but each medical center is negotiating with the union independently. Several other hospitals across the city and in its suburbs reached deals in recent days to avert a possible strike.

The nurses’ demands vary by hospital, but the major issues include staffing levels and workplace safety. The union says hospitals have given nurses unmanageable workloads.

Nurses also want better security measures in the workplace, citing incidents like a an incident last week, when a man with a sharp object barricaded himself in a Brooklyn hospital room and was then killed by police.

The union also wants limitations on hospitals’ use of artificial intelligence.

The nonprofit hospitals involved in the negotiations say they’ve been working to improve staffing levels, but say the union’s demands overall are too costly.

Nurses voted to authorize the strike last month.

Both New York Gov. Kathy Hochul and Mayor Zohran Mamdani had expressed concern about the possibility of the strike. As the strike deadline neared, Mamdani urged both sides to keep negotiating and reach a deal that “both honors our nurses and keeps our hospitals open.”

“Our nurses kept this city alive through its hardest moments. Their value is not negotiable,” Mamdani said.

State Attorney General Letitia James voiced similar support, saying "nurses put their lives on the line every day to keep New Yorkers healthy. They should never be forced to choose between their own safety, their patients’ well-being, and a fair contract.”

The last major nursing strike in the city was only three years ago, in 2023. That work stoppage, at Mount Sinai and Montefiore, was short, lasting three days. It resulted in a deal raising pay 19% over three years at those hospitals.

It also led to promised staffing improvements, though the union and hospitals now disagree about how much progress has been made, or whether the hospitals are retreating from staffing guarantees.