Expectant mothers in Terrace will benefit from the creation of a new prenatal clinic that is a partnership between local physicians and Northern Health. The clinic will help provide consistent, thorough care to mothers throughout their pregnancy.
“Government is committed to building supports in communities to ensure the very best care for patients,” said Health Minister Terry Lake. “This clinic will provide access to a team of health professionals to help ensure expectant moms in Terrace are able to access and receive consistent care throughout their pregnancies.”
The prenatal clinic will include five physicians, two obstetricians and three family physicians, providing 24-hour maternity care in collaboration with the prenatal clinic and labour and delivery services at Mills Memorial Hospital. In addition, the prenatal clinic will also include an interdisciplinary care team of healthcare providers. The clinic model takes the pressure off of a family physician to provide prenatal care throughout, to a group model that helps ensure coverage if a physician is not available. The clinic will be located in the Park Avenue Medical Centre.
“The prenatal clinic is a model that physicians in Terrace are very excited about implementing as it has proven to be an effective method of delivering care,” said Dr. Geoff Appleton, northwest medical director. “We want to make this an inviting and great experience for mothers and their families, and the collaboration will help ensure that is the case.”
A prenatal clinic was established in Fort St. John in early 2014 and has received positive feedback from the community. The team that developed the clinic has been asked to speak at national conferences, and recognized with other accolades. The Terrace prenatal clinic will follow a similar model to Fort St. John while respecting the differences in the communities.
In 2014 there were 353 births at Mills Memorial Hospital in Terrace, BC, which is up from 306 births in 2011. The move to operating a prenatal clinic will ensure sustainable and continued high quality care to expecting mothers, while physicians can also attend to their other practice responsibilities.
“We want this to be a clinic that works for residents of Terrace, and know the great relationships we have with our local physicians can make that happen,” said Penny Anguish, Northern Health chief operating officer for the northwest. “This is about a new model of care that will be beneficial for the community as a whole.”
The prenatal clinic is the first step in the development of a Women’s Wellness Centre that is being developed in Terrace. Further details on the interdisciplinary team based approach that will be taken in this clinic will be available as work progresses.
Following delivery, care is transferred back to the family physician if the patient is attached or the on-call physician service operated out of the Park Avenue Medical Centre. We plan to expand post-natal mom and baby service offerings in the future.
To book an appointment with the new prenatal clinic, mothers can speak with their family physician or call 250-635-BABY (250-635-2229).