Caption: Khalid Sawaged, DO, FACOG, Chairman, Dept. of OB/GYN (center left) and Darrell K. Terry, Sr., MHA, MPH, FACHE, FHELA, President and Chief Executive Officer, Newark Beth Israel Medical Center and Children’s Hospital of New Jersey (center right) with the teams from the Women’s Health Center, Women’s Health Unit (Labor & Delivery, Post-Partum Mother/Baby) and the Newark Beth Israel Wellness Team at the information tabling event during Maternal Health Awareness Day, Jan. 23, 2024.
Newark, NJ (January 24, 2024) – The Newark Beth Israel Medical Center, an RWJBarnabas Health facility, Women’s Health team was joined by the South Ward Healthy Beginnings doulas, from the South Ward Promise Neighborhood, during Maternal Health Awareness Day on January 23 in the Newark Beth Israel Medical Center Newark Strong Lobby at 201 Lyons Avenue.
Together they observed Maternal Health Awareness Day on January 23, raising awareness among both clinicians and patients and shared the importance of prenatal and postpartum care, along with nutrition counseling, and social support role in helping to improve maternal health outcomes. The twelve months immediately after delivery can be critical, as it is when some of the most deadly pregnancy-related complications can occur.
RWJBarnabas Health is committed to implementing programs that increase a woman’s access to outstanding care from the moment she begins planning for pregnancy or learns she is pregnant, throughout her pregnancy and delivery, and the 12-month postpartum period. These programs include supportive outreach and early identification for moms with substance use disorder through a partnership among the RWJBH Institute For Prevention and Recovery, hospital maternity programs and OB/GYN practices; comprehensive mental health outreach and support through the Center for Perinatal Mood and Anxiety Disorders in Eatontown and West Orange; Centering Pregnancy, an evidence-based group prenatal support program for at-risk moms at Newark Beth Israel Medical Center among others; and TeamBirth NJ, an evidence-based initiative to help ensure outstanding communication, teamwork and shared decision-making throughout the birthing experience.
Maternal Health Awareness Day was created in 2017 by the state of New Jersey to raise awareness and provide education to both health care providers and families about maternal health. Since then, a statewide patient safety initiative led by the New Jersey Hospital Association found that collaborative efforts by the state’s birthing centers are estimated to have averted more than 10,000 C-sections over five years.
About Newark Beth Israel Medical Center
Newark Beth Israel Medical Center, an RWJBarnabas Health facility, is a 665-bed regional care teaching hospital that provides comprehensive health care. Newark Beth Israel is a Top Teaching Hospital and home to one of the nation’s top 15 heart transplant centers, which has performed more than 1,100 heart transplants; RWJBarnabas Health’s Heart Failure Treatment and Transplant Program; New Jersey’s only Advanced Lung Disease and Transplant Program and a Valve Center that performs complex cardiac valve procedures, including minimally invasive transcatheter aortic valve replacements (TAVRs). Newark Beth Israel Medical Center is also home to Children’s Hospital of New Jersey (CHoNJ), which cares for children from birth through adolescence, with more than 30 specialized pediatric services including New Jersey’s largest Valerie Fund Children’s Center for Cancer and Blood Disorders; and the Children’s Heart Center that offers a complete range of medical and surgical treatments for the most complex cardiac abnormalities. The Newark Beth Israel robotic surgery program is the most experienced in northern New Jersey. RWJBarnabas Health and The Frederick B. Cohen, MD, Comprehensive Cancer and Blood Disorders Center at Newark Beth Israel Medical Center and the Healthcare Foundation of New Jersey Breast Health Center, in partnership with Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey – the state's only NCI-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center – brings a world class team of researchers and specialists to fight alongside you, providing close-to-home access to the latest treatment and clinical trials. Newark Beth Israel also offers many preventive health programs that promote wellness in the community, including The Beth Greenhouse, which provides access to fresh produce and health and wellness education to residents.