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By Stacie Jones
As anxious
parents-to-be await the
arrival of a new child, it can help
them to know they’re not alone on
their journey to parenthood. Kootenai
Clinic OB-GYN’s team of certified
nurse-midwives is offering a new way
for expectant parents to prepare for
their new babies together as a group,
while they also receive the prenatal
care they need.
The clinic’s new Small Group Pre-
natal Care program is an alternative
approach to preparing for childbirth.
“This community model is a great
way for moms and dads to meet
like-minded parents who are due
with their babies around the same
time,” said Ronda Williamson, a
Kootenai certified nurse-midwife who
helped develop the program. “It’s a
supportive community of midwives
and other parents with whom they
can share difficulties and triumphs
as they welcome a new child into the
world.”
Small groups of 4 to 10 couples
learn about preparing for birth and
SAFE
SLEEP FOR
INFANTS
In September, Kootenai Health
became one of the first hos-
pitals in Idaho to be named a
Gold Safe Sleep Champion for
best practices and education
on safe infant sleep by the
National Safe Sleep Hospital
Certification Program. The
certification recognizes the
hospital’s commitment to
providing staff, parents and
the community the training,
education and tools they need
to ensure a safe sleep environ-
ment for babies in both the
hospital and home.
Out of every 100,000 babies
born in Idaho, 83 will die from
sudden infant death syndrome
(SIDS) and sudden unexpect-
ed infant death (SUID). These
are the leading causes of death
for infants between 1 and 12
months of age. Hoping to
change this statistic, Kootenai
encourages staff and parents to
follow the safe sleep guidelines
recommended by the Ameri-
can Academy of Pediatrics to
prevent sleep-related deaths
due to accidental suffocation.
To keep your infant safe,
remember the ABCs of safe
sleep: baby sleeps
A
lone, on
his or her
B
ack, and in a
C
rib
or bassinet.
To learn more, visit
KH.org.
Preparing for Parenthood
COMMUNITY MODEL: Faith Krull, certified nurse midwife for Kootenai Clinic OB-GYN,
leads a prenatal small group at their Post Falls location.
NEW SMAL L GROUP PRENATAL
CARE FOR EXPECTANT PARENTS
discuss common challenges and
issues that face expectant parents.
Topics include nutrition and exercise,
breastfeeding, pregnancy discom-
forts, labor and delivery, postpartum
care, and infant care. The program
also includes private, one-on-one
visits with the midwife for physical
exams. After the births, the group
reunites—with their newborn babies.
“We get to spend a lot more time
on education and really establish
that personal relationship with the
patients,” Ronda said.
The approach has been shown to
improve outcomes for both mother
and baby.
“There’s good evidence that
these types of small-group classes
decrease certain complications, such
as preterm labor and postpartum
depression,” Ronda said.
WANT TO JOIN
A SMALL GROUP?
Call Kootenai Clinic
OB-GYN at
(208) 625-4970
.
A
B
C
KH . ORG
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