Vision Statement
Vision for the Womencare Health and Maternity Center
Womencare was established to provide health care options and maternity care choices for women and their families in the Philadelphia area. A key objective of our non-profit organization is to establish a health care facility, which is a FQHC, within Philadelphia to provide quality services for women’s health, maternity care and related health and social service needs.
The philosophy and goals of the Womencare Health and Maternity Center are to:
- Provide safe, quality, and continuity of care for women and their families.
- Support women to be a part of planning their health care.
- Respect women's and families cultural traditions for childbirth.
- Work as a team of a variety of health care providers to provide cost-effective care.
- Be governed by a Community and Womencare’s Health & Maternity Center Board.
- Have collaborative support from hospitals in the community & region.
- Serve the healthcare needs of women and their families in the community.
Location
- Northeast Philadelphia
- Accessible by pubic transportation
- Access to hospitals where there will be a formal agreement for transfer of women and babies with health risks.
- It is anticipated that there will be less preterm birth, resulting in fewer low birth weight babies and a cesarean section rate of less than 10% with a staff of Certified Nurse-Midwives (CNMs) and OB/GYN physician support.
Services and Physical facility needs:
An existing building would be renovated to accommodate a range of services to include:
- 10 birthing suites, 2 operating rooms (one for c-sections, the other for GYN surgeries).
- A maternity triage center to include antenatal testing and a sonogram department
- Ambulatory care offices and exam rooms for OB/GYN, pediatric care and mental health services.
- An educational center for breastfeeding support, childbirth education, parenting and postpartum classes and support, teen groups, menopausal support groups and other educational classes.
- Offices for social workers, therapists and psychiatrists.
- A childcare center for families and staff.
Staffing which will be diverse to care for different cultures:
(to accommodate approximately1500 births annually)
- 10 certified nurse-midwives and 3-4 OB/GYN physicians to provide 24/7 hour coverage.
- Nurses, lactation consultants, doulas
- Nurse-anesthetists and anesthesiologists
- Sonogram technicians for ultrasounds, mammograms and bone density scans.
- Childbirth, parenting and women’s health educators.
- Pediatricians & Pediatric Nurse Practitioners.
- Mental health therapists (2) and a psychiatrist
- A Momobile staff (2) for outreach to the community and social services/social workers.
- Childcare health workers & educators.
We offer neighboring hospitals referrals, low risk triaging and preventive maternity, women’s health and pediatric care in the community and a cost effective model of women’s health & maternity care.
