There’s a difference between simply treating a patient and treating a patient as a person. Anne Moctezuma-Baker, a Spanish teacher at MLK High School, experienced that firsthand when she had her son through Vanderbilt’s MyMaternityHealth Bundle.
“I've gone to other hospitals, and sometimes they treat you as just another patient, but I never felt that way at Vanderbilt University Hospital,” she said. “I felt like a person, not a number, like I was the only patient they had.”
All the Services Mother and Baby Need
MyMaternityHealth provides an enhanced experience for expectant mothers with low- to no out-of-pocket costs. The program takes an innovative approach that coordinates and “bundles” all the services an expectant mother and baby need. Patients receive high-touch support from a navigator.
From the moment she considered starting a family, Anne had her eyes on the bundle. Posters in her school's workroom sparked her interest, and colleagues at school raved about their own experience with MyMaternityHealth. “I've had a good experience with care at Vanderbilt Health,” she said. “So when I got pregnant, I felt there was no other decision but that one.”
For Anne, the financial relief was one of the most significant advantages. Her pregnancy and delivery were fully covered, including an extended hospital stay due to preeclampsia.
“I don’t know how much it would have cost without the bundle,” she says. "Being on unpaid leave after birth, it really helped for those three months."
Convenient and Responsive
Convenience was another plus. Anne highlighted how easy it was to enroll, schedule appointments online and get her questions answered. She could send message to her providers and to her patient navigator, Nikita Walton, “and I would get a fast response.”
The medical staff always made sure she left every appointment with everything she needed, Anne said. She was also impressed that when her doctor was unavailable for a certain appointment, the rest of her team was fully prepared for her. “It was so easy not to have to explain things or what my medicines were,” she said. “They could just pull up everything from my record in the My Health at Vanderbilt portal.”
She also praised Nikita, whom Anne describes as incredibly helpful and knowledgeable. “She explained what was included in the bundle, and if I saw a charge I thought was wrong, she would clear that up,” Anne said.
Today, her baby boy is thriving, and Anne continues to turn to Vanderbilt Health for his pediatric care. Her confidence in the MyMaternityHealth Bundle runs so deep that she recommends it to others. Her best friend is now enrolled.
But for other colleagues, Anne said her recommendation came a bit too late. “They tell me, ‘I wish this existed when I was pregnant!’”
