Delivering Healthcare Services to Central Florida’s Neediest Mothers
Orlando, FL – December 19, 2006 – The Birth Place, a unique birthing center and midwifery practice, today announced funding from the Winter Park Health Foundation, an organization dedicated to making a positive difference in people’s lives by creating healthy communities. The mission of Jennie Joseph, Clinical Director of The Birth Place, is to improve birth outcomes through quality prenatal care in Central Florida. The funds will help The Birth Place continue to offer uninsured and under-insured pregnant women access to maternity healthcare improving overall well-being for both the mother and the unborn child.
The Birth Place has experienced an influx of uninsured women who have been unable to start their prenatal care in a timely fashion. Despite their often desperate situations Ms. Joseph and her staff have reached out and creatively found ways to assist them in getting started. Studies have shown that early entry into prenatal care makes a difference and that consistent care produces much improved outcomes. Coupled with these efforts Ms. Joseph has seen an amazing turn around in the low birth weight, prematurity and maternal and infant morbidity quite unlike the usual statistics for this particular demographic.
Ms. Joseph plans to use the funding to hire an additional midwife to handle the growing clinic, provide outreach to the community and increase educational programs. The Health Council of East Central Florida under the direction of Dr. Karen Van Caulil will be providing a formal evaluation of the program and its outcomes to determine if its results are statistically significant. If the model appears to be improving birth outcomes for this high risk population, The Health Council of Central Florida proposes to work closely with The Birth Place to develop this model as a best practice that can be replicated in additional community health centers, health departments and private practice settings.
“I am thrilled and grateful for the opportunity the Winter Park Health Foundation and The Health Council of East Central Florida have given us. The Birth Place has had a non-profit component called Commonsense Childbirth, which is a 501 (c) 3 corporation since 1998, and as a result we have struggled throughout the years, accepting women for care regardless of their ability to pay,” said Jennie Joseph. “These funds will allow us to offer more women a chance to experience not just physical care, but the overall support and encouragement that midwives provide using a holistic approach to maternity care. The more women know about the changes their bodies go through during pregnancy, the more they are able to help themselves and their families to be healthy, not to mention the tremendous financial, social and medical benefits that a positive birth outcome brings to the entire community.”
Winter Park Health Foundation
The Winter Park Health Foundation is a private, not-for-profit organization supporting programs that improve the health of youth, older adults and the uninsured. It also conducts research and provides education on health issues affecting these groups. A long-trusted leader on health care issues, the foundation serves as a catalyst for information-gathering, research and collaboration on health issues impacting Central Florida. For more information visit, www.wphf.org
The Health Council of East Central Florida
In 1982, the Florida Legislature created the Local Health Planning Councils, under Florida Statute Section 408.033, as a network of non-profit agencies that conduct regional health planning and implementation activities. The activities undertaken by the health councils are designed to improve access to healthcare, reduce disparities in health status, assist state and local governments in the development of sound and rational healthcare policies, and advocate on behalf of the underserved. www.hcecf.org
About The Birth Place
The Birth Place birthing center provides a service to the local Orlando area community by offering quality maternity care for women, with a focus on family involvement. As Clinical Director of The Birth Place (www.thebirthplace.org) in Winter Garden, Florida, Ms. Jennie Joseph offers prenatal and postpartum exams along with an onsite birthing facility for healthy, low-risk women. British-trained and educated in the early 1980’s Joseph has been a Florida resident since 1989. The Birth Place has grown over the last eleven years and currently serves around sixty women a week, with approximately 80 – 100 deliveries a year.
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For Press Inquiries contact:
Jan Jahosky
Tel: .407-331-4699
Email: jan@jahosky.com
