The Women’s Wellness & Maternity Center in Madisonville has recently been awarded a Community Grant from the March of Dimes. This program funded by this grant, “Childbirth With You,” will provide women of our area CenteringPregnancy group prenatal care and Doula services.  The goal of the grant program is to increase the access and the quality of health care available to area women, and thus improve the health of babies.  The Centering groups will take place at Women’s Wellness & Maternity Center located off Highway 68 in Madisonville.

Some of the benefits of group prenatal care are: women will receive more time with their health care provider; they will also be taking a more proactive role in their health care by participating in and learning more about the pregnancy.  In addition the women in the groups will have similar due dates and will be going through similar experiences in their pregnancies.  Studies show that women attending group prenatal care form support networks with other women in the groups, and that such complications as preterm and low birth weight babies are less frequent when participating in group care.  

Childbirth With You will also provide doulas for women participating in group prenatal care.  Doulas are trained to provide professional labor and birth support, and have been shown to improve outcomes, such as the need for pain medication and cesareans delivery.  Women at WWMC who have had doula support for their births say this support made a tremendous difference in their comfort during delivery.  A community doula will also be funded by this grant to help women and their families make a successful transition through pregnancy to parenting by providing education and resources.

Funding for the March of Dimes Community Grants comes from the March for Babies fundraising walks that are held all over the country.  Community grants help local communities to improve the health of babies with innovative programs such as Childbirth With You.  

For more information on CenteringPregnancy prenatal care or doula care, call 442-6624.