{"id":15733,"date":"2025-08-08T18:18:12","date_gmt":"2025-08-08T18:18:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/smhf.org\/?p=15733"},"modified":"2025-09-22T20:09:54","modified_gmt":"2025-09-22T20:09:54","slug":"healthcare-foundation-helps-support-smhs-new-pregnancy-care-team-to-provide-prenatal-care","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hub.coffee\/smhf\/healthcare-foundation-helps-support-smhs-new-pregnancy-care-team-to-provide-prenatal-care\/","title":{"rendered":"Healthcare Foundation Helps Support SMH’s New Pregnancy Care Team to Provide Prenatal Care"},"content":{"rendered":"

August 1, 2025<\/strong><\/p>\n

The first trimester is a crucial time in a woman\u2019s pregnancy, when obstetricians monitor fetal development, manage potential risks and help ensure a safe, healthy delivery. A shortage of obstetricians, however, is making starting prenatal care early a challenge for women here and across the nation.<\/p>\n

To close the gaps in care, Sarasota Memorial Hospital\u2019s newly created\u00a0<\/span>Pregnancy Care Team<\/a>\u00a0<\/span>is reaching out to pregnant women and community partners to help them access the prenatal and maternity care they need. Leading the team are three experienced labor and delivery\/postpartum nurses who serve as OB navigators, providing free guidance and a broad range of services and support that women may need throughout their pregnancy.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe recognize the challenges that many families face during pregnancy, particularly those experiencing high-risk conditions,\u201d said Abby Olsen, director of Women and Children\u2019s Services at Sarasota Memorial Health Care System. \u201cOur Pregnancy Care Team and OB Nurse Navigators are here to support parents-to-be and provide the guidance and resources they need for a safe, healthy pregnancy.\u201d<\/p>\n

While Sarasota Memorial is serving as the backbone for essential care, the Pregnancy Care Team and OB navigators are working with the Florida Department of Health-Sarasota County, CenterPlace Health and other providers to increase access to essential care. The program also receives support, referrals and assistance from Sarasota Memorial Healthcare Foundation, Charles & Margery Barancik Foundation, First 1,000 Days Suncoast, Florida Blue Foundation, Gulf Coast Community Foundation,\u00a0the Community Foundation of Sarasota County\u00a0and other not-for-profit community organizations working collaboratively to increase access to maternal-fetal care in Sarasota, Manatee and DeSoto counties.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe know it takes a village to raise a child, and this new service expands that village by connecting families with trusted and compassionate professionals to help them navigate their pregnancy and the beginning of their parenting journey,\u201d said Chelsea Arnold, director of First 1,000 Days Suncoast.<\/p>\n

Among other services, the Pregnancy Care Team provides:<\/p>\n

\u2219\u00a0 An OB Nurse Navigator to provide support throughout a woman\u2019s pregnancy
\n\u2219\u00a0 Help finding a prenatal care provider who is the right match to your pregnancy
\n\u2219\u00a0 Access to prenatal education
\n\u2219\u00a0 Lactation (breastfeeding) support and services
\n\u2219\u00a0 Referrals for appointments and services
\n\u2219\u00a0\u00a0Care coordination between healthcare providers
\n\u2219\u00a0 Help accessing community and family resources<\/p>\n

To reach the Pregnancy Care Team, call (941) 917-MOMS (6667) or visit the First 1,000 Days Suncoast webpage<\/a>\u00a0<\/span>and click on the \u201cGet Connected\u201d tab.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/section>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"August 1, 2025 The first trimester is a crucial time in a woman\u2019s pregnancy, when obstetricians monitor fetal development, manage potential risks and help ensure a safe, healthy delivery. A shortage of obstetricians, however, is making starting prenatal care early a challenge for women here and across the nation. To close the gaps in care,...","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":15735,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-15733","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hub.coffee\/smhf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15733","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hub.coffee\/smhf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hub.coffee\/smhf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hub.coffee\/smhf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hub.coffee\/smhf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15733"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/hub.coffee\/smhf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15733\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15820,"href":"https:\/\/hub.coffee\/smhf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15733\/revisions\/15820"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hub.coffee\/smhf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/15735"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hub.coffee\/smhf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15733"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hub.coffee\/smhf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15733"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hub.coffee\/smhf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15733"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}