Maternity Family Advisory Council
The Cooperman Barnabas Medical Center (CBMC) Maternity Family Advisory Council (MFAC) seeks to provide the safest, highest-quality maternity care by creating a partnership with the community we serve and the hospital’s maternity team.
We work collaboratively to ensure that the patient and family’s voices, perspectives and experiences are heard and integrated into our delivery of care.
The MFAC members play an integral role in ensuring that CBMC provides a safe, comfortable birthing environment, culturally sensitive patient-centric care, and an outstanding patient and family experience.
The MFAC is a subcommittee of CBMC's Patient and Family Advisory Council.
Accomplishments
Since the MFAC was established in 2020, it has contributed to the development of:
- A virtual tour of the hospital, including maternity services
- Revamped discharge and preadmission folders; placement of the content on a dedicated, enhanced maternity website
- Web content for patient education
Why I Do It
MFAC Member
“I came to be a member of the Maternity Family Advisory Committee by responding to a request on the Barnabas Babies Facebook Page. I had my son at Cooperman Barnabas Medical Center in August of 2019. I was a first-time mom and looking for ways to engage with other moms and thought that was a good way to do so. Also, I enjoyed my birthing experience at Cooperman Barnabas and wanted to make the experience as enjoyable for others by sharing my thoughts and ideas. At our first meeting, we hit the ground running in establishing goals and priorities. Due to COVID-19, those goals and priorities shifted. The goals we had set as long-term goals, such as virtual tours of the maternity ward and re-vamping discharge classes, were now our short-term goals. The committee worked throughout the pandemic to ensure that new moms and families were able to still have a wonderful birthing experience despite the anxiety felt by the impact of COVID-19. Now, the Maternity Department has a virtual tour and a revamped website. We have re-designed postcards for the department to highlight the diversity of the families that use Cooperman Barnabas to welcome their new ones into the world. I have enjoyed working on the committee. I have learned a great deal about maternal health and I have felt that my voice has been heard by the other members of the committee. I appreciate the opportunity given to me by Cooperman Barnabas to be able to share my thoughts, feelings and ideas.”
To learn more about the MFAC or if you are interested in joining, please contact Susan DiRocco, BSN, Clinical Director of Family Centered Care, at Susan.DiRocco@rwjbh.org.
