Maria And Rich Plan For The Birth Of Their Baby
Meet Maria and Rich — Humana members who were able to get the best health outcomes possible at the best value possible.
Maria and Rich's Healthy Living Video
ANNCR: Maria and Rich were newlyweds. They were also new to town. And, they'd both just started new jobs. That's a lot of new things to be happening all at once. About a month after they started their jobs, they got some new news. Maria met with Joyce — her company's benefits administrator — and told her she and Rich were expecting.
Joyce gave her a HumanaBeginnings® brochure and showed her a number on the brochure to call to talk to a HumanaBeginnings nurse. The brochure got lost in the shuffle.
Because Maria didn't call HumanaBeginnings, she didn't talk to a registered nurse or receive a series of informational brochures or get a book about pregnancy, birth, and motherhood. Nor did she receive a follow-up call from a HumanaBeginnings nurse one month after her delivery.
A call that would have determined she had post-partum depression.
Rich missed several days of work, including a new business presentation, because he had to find childcare for the baby — Maria was too depressed to do it. Because Rich didn't attend the presentation, his company didn't get the business. He didn't get a holiday bonus and nearly lost his job. Maria's depression worsened and eventually she had to be hospitalized. Where did Maria and Rich go wrong?
Maria should have taken advantage of the HumanaBeginnings program.
MARIA: Actually, I did. I was a first-time mother, and I knew I needed all the help I could get.
I called HumanaBeginnings and was assigned a nurse named Betsy — great lady. She was there for me through the whole pregnancy — reassured me, helped me feel more confident.
BETSY: Maria was so new to the Milwaukee area...she didn't even have a doctor. I sent her to Physician Finder Plus on MyHumana. She was able to compare different doctors by address and performance rating. She found someone near her home who she really liked.
MARIA: We also chose our hospital online. We used Humana's MyChoice Tools to compare the hospitals based on a bunch of different ratings like "Overall effectiveness," "Complication rates," and "Costs."
RICH: We really wanted to make an informed decision.
MARIA: Everything went well through the delivery. Alex was a healthy eight-pound boy. He was the most beautiful thing either of us had ever seen...and we were both real happy he was here...but then, about a week or so later, things started to unravel.
BETSY: I called to check on Maria a month after her delivery date. I could tell she wasn't doing well. She had a lot of residual pain from the birth...but, also, she was just feeling "kind of down." I recognized it as post-partum depression, so I connected Maria with a behavioral health specialist here at Humana.
MARIA: Rich didn't know what was going on...I didn't even know myself. Thank goodness Betsy was there to get me hooked up with Don — a behavioral health specialist. Meanwhile, my husband was having to play mommy and daddy while I was getting some help.
RICH: We had a big presentation to a top client...and I played an important part in it. I was going to have to miss the presentation because I had to look for a daycare for the baby...Maria just wasn't up to it...she needed to rest and that's all there was to it. So, I went into my boss...to tell him I was gonna need a few days off to look for a daycare...and he said — we have EAP Work-Life — remember?
I called EAP — it stands for Employee Assistance Program — and they found me three daycares that had what we were looking for — y'know, good reputation, good price, on the way to work — that kind of thing. They even confirmed that the three daycares had space so, in the end, I didn't have to run all over town, searching and comparing.
I didn't miss the presentation and we ended up getting the business — which made my boss very happy. Maria was feeling better thanks to support she was getting from Don, the Behavioral Health Specialist, and the medication from her doctor.
BETSY: Maria called me with a concern about nursing Alex while she was taking an anti-depressant. She was afraid the drug might have an adverse effect and wanted a second opinion. I confirmed what her doctor had already told her.
She also wanted to know if the pain pills and allergy pills she was taking were OK to take with the anti-depressant. I told her to use the pharmacy tool on MyHumana that allowed her to put in all her prescriptions and see if there were any potential drug interactions. There weren't.
MARIA: We were relieved.
RICH: Really relieved.
MARIA: Thanks to Betsy and Don and Humana, we were able to have a healthy baby and keep our costs down. I was able to keep my depression in-check and stay out of the hospital.
RICH: Humana did things for us I never thought a health insurance company would. Or could. Humana helped us. (Gestures at the baby) All of us.
MARIA: Thanks.
ANNCR: There's a reason Humana goes the extra step to bring you better health benefits...we want you to have...better health.
What can you do? Visit MyHumana and use all its tools and resources. Take the Humana Health Assessment and get your personalized report. Update your personal contact information with your employer. Call HumanaFirst® Health Planning and Support at 1-800-622-9529 or go to Humana.com to see how we can help you on your journey to better health.
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