GOSHEN — In order to help prevent premature births and birth defects, the Indiana Chapter of the March of Dimes approved a $14,000 grant to Maple City Health Care Center to provide prenatal care for at least 70 Goshen area mothers. Many of these mothers and babies will be from low-income, uninsured families.
Maple City Health Care Center will use March of Dimes funds to improve the health of babies by increasing the number of women who begin prenatal care in their first trimester of pregnancy.
The March of Dimes grant will help Maple City Health Care Center provide prenatal care that is affordable even for women who have no health insurance, according to the clinic staff.
With assistance from March of Dimes, doctors, a midwife, nurses, and staff at the center will provide office visits, pregnancy groups, doula services, home visits, healthy living groups, and social services.
The pregnancy groups include women who speak only Spanish and women who speak only English. A bilingual interpreter from the center helps the women understand each other. The women learn about healthy pregnancy, discuss problems and concerns, and find ways to encourage and support others in the group.
Maple City Health Care Center offers a doula to every pregnant patient. A doula is a trained birthing coach who helps during delivery.
The center’s prenatal care recently won the Premier Health Award from the Indiana Public Health Foundation. The award cited “excellence and leadership in addressing low birth weight and premature births in a high risk, underserved population”.
Ellie Gerig, pregnancy coordinator, and Beth Elmore, nurse midwife, will help provide care for the 70 mothers and babies assisted by March of Dimes and Maple City Health Care Center’s prenatal program.
Maple City Health Care Center is a medical home for more than 3,000 people in Goshen’s north and east neighborhoods. The neighborhoods include a high concentration of people who struggle to afford health care.
“We believe that every person deserves affordable, high quality health care,” explains Dr. James Gingerich, the center’s medical director. “We’re very pleased to use the March of Dimes grant to help us serve pregnant women who, for many reasons, lack access to health care.”
In addition to doctors, a midwife, and nurses, Maple City Health Care Center hires a nutritionist, a social worker, a chronic disease manager, and a Medicaid assistant. With help from these bilingual employees, the center is better able to care for the whole person.
The March of Dimes is a national voluntary health agency whose mission is to improve the health of babies by preventing birth defects, premature birth, and infant mortality. The March of Dimes funds research programs, community services, education, and advocacy in order to save babies. The Indiana Chapter (based in Indianapolis) provides community grants to help accomplish this mission in Indiana.
Maple City Health Care Center’s mission is to provide high quality, affordable, accessible, integrated health care. The center’s web site is www.mchcc.com.
Local News
Related Photos
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From left are Maple City Health Care Center’s Beth Elmore, nurse midwife and Ellie Gerig, pregnancy coordinator. The health center recently earned a grant from the March of Dimes to help prevent premature births and birth defects. PHOTO CONTRIBUTED
Grant to fund prenatal program in Goshen
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