Alexis Carena
Alexis Carena is a maternal health and patient safety advocate, and a Director of National Accreta Foundation, based in Northern Virginia. Alexis is a survivor of the pregnancy complication placenta accreta, which required life-saving surgery and blood transfusions during her son’s birth. Her patient story has been shared at Inova Health System’s IGNITE talk series, Inova’s INhealth Magazine, and at blood drives in the Washington DC area. Alexis focuses on increasing awareness of placenta accreta and other life-threatening pregnancy complications that may require donor blood, through speaking engagements, regular blood drives, and the advocacy platform Heroes for Moms that she founded. Alexis peer mentors women diagnosed with placenta accreta and formed the first accreta support group in the Washington DC, Virginia, and Maryland region. Alexis also has personal experience with müllerian anomalies, a congenital disorder of the female reproductive tract.
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ALEXIS' STORY & ADVOCACY WORK IN THE NEWS
Panel Speaker: Hosting Blood Drives, Champions for Change Summit, October 2, 2021
Speaker: Surviving My Son’s Birth, Society for Pediatric Pathology: 2021 Perinatal Pathology Course, April 10, 2021
Keynote Speaker: A Patient’s Story: Surviving Placenta Accreta, AWHONN Virginia Section Conference, March 17, 2019
Speaker: Surviving My Son’s Birth, Inova Health System, January 16, 2019
Webinar Speaker: Surviving My Son’s Birth with Patient, Family and Staff Support, Georgia Perinatal Quality Collaborative, January 8, 2019
Article: Blood donors help save new moms’ lives, Inova’s INhealth Magazine, July 2018
Interview: Faces of Postpartum, as part of a series to highlight maternal near-miss survivors and bring attention to survivorship of placenta accreta, May 2018
Article: ICAN Accreta Awareness Month – Alexis’s Birth Story, International Cesarean Awareness Network, October 9, 2017
Article: Placenta Accreta: A Survivor’s Story - Opportunities to Help Other Mothers, Mindful Healthy Life, March 2016
PATIENT/CONSUMER ADVOCACY & REPRESENTATION
Heroes for Moms, Founder and Washington DC area Ambassador
Washington DC/Virginia/Maryland Accreta Support Group, Patient Advisor and Administrator
Mullerian Anomalies Support Group, Patient Advisor and Administrator
PUBLICATIONS
Editor for Patient Family Partner Certification Training Materials
