Prenatal Program Helps Women With Pregnancy

May 6, 2010

Prenatal program helps women through pregnancy

WINTERS — The Winters Healthcare Foundation has expanded its services to include a prenatal program to assist women in Yolo County through the pregnancy process.

The program takes a more holistic approach to pregnancy, and in a attempt to accommodate the physical, mental and emotional needs of women, the center is outfitted with a bilingual staff, registered dietitian, psychologist, mid-wife, health educator and lactation consultant. The center also takes advantage of the Sweet Success program, which assists women with gestational diabetes management.

All women are eligible for the program, regardless of age or insurance. To provide full support to patients, a fully staffed clinic is available every Wednesday evening and a midwife is always available to patients 24 hours a day.

Physician assistant and midwife Amy Morgan explained that the program aims to assist women through pregnancy in any way needed.

“That’s an important philosophy that goes along with our program, just being accessible to women so that they feel that they’re just really embraced with support from people that know them and know that they can feel comfortable with — that’s what we’re trying to create here,” Morgan said.

Morgan goes on many home visits as part of the program’s post-partum service, ensuring that every woman and baby are assessed in their home at least once after birth to address any issues a mother may have in caring for herself and her baby. Morgan said the home visits enable patients to receive care in a more personal way, encouraging more women to reach out for help when needed.

“I found that by doing a home visit and making that connection and seeing them in their own space, they (patients) are more likely to feel comfortable calling us if there’s something that comes up during the postpartum period,” Morgan said.

To better care for women during pregnancy, the program staff highly encourage patients to come into the center regularly and within the first trimester. As a way to encourage consistent medical visits, the program offers a free car seat to patients after they have attended 10 appointments.

The center also will host a bilingual, volunteer doula program beginning May 22, in an attempt to provide another outlet of support for patients. A doula is a person with special training to assist and support a woman during birth, ensuring that a woman is getting and doing everything that she needs to have a smooth labor process. Having a doula is something that Morgan highly recommends, as the benefits can be immense.

“Many studies show that women who have had a doula in labor and birth have a lot less cesarean sections, a lot less medication, and a lot less intervention,” Morgan said.

Morgan said the opportunity to impact women in a positive way and provide support through the pregnancy process is the driving force of the program, something she takes joy in being a part of.

“I love it and I feel like birth is one way that women can really be empowered through the experience if they can just have that support and have that knowledge. That’s kind of our goal; that every woman should feel loved and nurtured and supported throughout the whole process because she’s growing a baby, she’s growing new life and that takes a lot of work,” Morgan said.

Clinic manager Norma Adame urges women to utilize the program, underlining the fact that if offers a comprehensive support system that can be beneficial to a woman’s health during pregnancy.

“This program is really taking a leap forward to providing excellent prenatal care. Pregnancy is really an emotional journey for women, it’s not just physical. Anyone deserves a well-rounded team for such a life changing process,” Adame said.

For more information about the volunteer doula program, call (530) 212-1023, or contact the Winters Healthcare Clinic at (530) 795-4377.