Maternal & Child Health Program
Photo Credit: Rose Wine Photography
Our Maternal and Child Health program provides comprehensive care to expectant mothers and their children. We offer prenatal care, newborn care, and post-delivery care. RISE’s Family Medicine Providers work hand-in-hand with RISE’s Community Health Workers, who are specialized in Maternal and Child Health.
Using a trauma-informed care approach, we help mothers navigate childbirth and early motherhood by connecting them with essential resources like transportation, car seats, newborn assessments, family planning, and support for stressors of parenthood.
Our Community Health Workers are also trained Doulas, so they extend direct support to our patients in pregnancy and in labor.
-
Worcester RISE for Health’s team of family medicine providers cares for people having healthy pregnancies, and collaborates with OB-Gyn specialists for pregnancies with complications. We deliver at UMASS-Memorial Hospital.
One of the special aspects of prenatal care with family medicine is that we also provide care for the baby, so we continue the close relationship with the family after birth.
We also have a team of maternal-child health community health workers who maintain close communication with patients throughout their pregnancy, helping them navigate their appointments and making sure they have all the essentials for taking care of their baby.
-
Worcester RISE for Health offers a unique model of care for new parents and their babies: Postpartum and Newborn Group care.
Groups are run by one of the RISE doctors together with the community health worker. Parents can attend this group monthly with their babies, in which babies receive their scheduled checkups and vaccines, postpartum parents can have their issues addressed, and all parents can ask questions and learn about how to care for their newborns. Parents also experience support in community with other families with newborns.
-
At Worcester RISE for Health, the maternal-child community health workers are trained as doulas and support RISE’s pregnant patients. Additionally, Worcester RISE coordinates with community doulas, matching them to pregnant people in the community who would like support from a doula who shares their language or cultural background.
