The Alianza de Acción e Investigación Eliminando Partos Prematuros en Puerto Rico (La Alianza) is a group of professionals, researchers, and parents of premature children with a common interest of eliminating premature births on the Island. La Alianza meets quarterly to develop concrete actions, research, and recommendations to achieve its goal. The group uses community-based participatory research and patient-centered outcomes research methods to reach its conclusions.
La Alianza was convened on three occasions over the period from December 2017 to April 2018 to discuss the impact of hurricanes Irma and María on pregnant women. This resulted in a series of recommendations addressed to health professionals, hospitals, the public and leaders responsible for public policy focused on preparing expecting parents for emergencies. This document summarizes the recommendations put forth by La Alianza. We share these recommendations with the expectation that readers will create awareness of the issues that arise for expecting parents in cases of emergency and will take the pertinent actions within their power.