Prenatal care service returns to Maternal & Child Health Center
COSHOCTON – The staff at the Maternal & Child Health Center is excited to once again be offering prenatal care to women.
“We will take new patients as soon as we get calls,” said Leane Rohr, director of the center.
The Maternal and Child Health Center is located at 724 S. Seventh St. in the county services building. It temporarily suspended prenatal services after Coshocton Hospital closed its maternity floor and spent the last couple of months working on a plan to be able to continue to offer this type of care to women. That plan recently came together, and they were able to keep Dr. Paul Prior on to provide prenatal care to pregnant women.
“His new practice is in Mount Vernon and he has privileges at Knox Community Hospital,” Rohr said. “Our prenatal moms will make a commitment to go to Knox for their delivery and ultra sounds. Their lab work and urinalyses could be done locally though.”
Prior will see patients through their 40 weeks of pregnancy (or until the baby is born) and for their postpartum check up in Coshocton. Appointments with him will be made for Tuesday afternoons.
Women can still come to the center for pregnancy tests during regular office hours from 8 a.m. to 12 p.m. and 1 to 4 p.m. Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays. Pregnant patients also can stop by during those hours if they have health concerns they would like to discuss with the nurse.
If pregnant moms need help with transportation to see Prior in Mount Vernon, Rohr said the center will help connect them with the local coordinated transportation agency.
“Our main focus is to help the uninsured or underinsured, but we know it’s important to have local prenatal care so we will work with everyone to the best of our ability,” Rohr said. “If you have insurance, just ask us and we will look into what we can do. We want to serve as many moms as we can.”
Between pregnancy tests and prenatal care, the center usually sees about 50 moms a year.
“We are excited to reopen,” Rohr said. “We feel this is something that is needed in the community and the drive to Knox is not a bad one. It’s similar to Zanesville in mileage.”
The center also will soon be starting two new programs, Baby & Me Tobacco Free and Cribs for Kids.
Baby & Me Tobacco Free is a smoking cessations class for pregnant moms.
Those who remain tobacco free will have the chance to win a $25 diaper voucher each month for the first year of their child’s life. All they have to do is come in each month and get tested to show that they are still not using tobacco products.
“We don’t have a lot of openings for this so I encourage people to call and get their names on a list so when we get more information we can let them know the details,” Rohr said.
The Cribs for Kids program is all about giving kids a safe place to sleep. It involves attending four one hour education sessions on topics such as nutrition, parent education, developmental information and safety and safe sleeping. Those who attend each week will receive a $10 gas voucher and at the end, a sleep kit that includes a pack and play, blanket sleeper, sheets and other educational material. The program will be offered quarterly, with the first four week session starting Wednesday, Sept. 3, and more to follow in November, March and June.
“Ohio is one of the worst states for infant mortality and there has been a big push the last few years to raise awareness about what causes that,” Rohr said. “This program gives babies a safe place to sleep and educates parents on why that’s important.”
For more on any of these programs, call the Maternal & Child Health Center at 622-2999.
josie@coshoctoncountybeacon.com
Category: People & Places
