ORLANDO, Fla. – A well being care group is partnering with a Central Florida Midwife to get outcomes for uninsured and underinsured pregnant women, utilizing an surprising device: a bus.
It’s referred to as The Midwife Bus and it’s a one-stop-shop for expectant moms to get the prenatal and postpartum care they want. It’s a maternity clinic on wheels with couches in the ready room, an examination room with an examination chair, ultrasound machine, lab work capabilities and extra. (Yes, this all suits on the bus.)
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Owner Brooke Schmoe is a licensed midwife who had a imaginative and prescient to enhance entry to prenatal care for individuals who are uninsured or underinsured.
“Just breaking down barriers when there’s nobody who’s doing that for these people. It’s not good for the community because these babies may not thrive as well because they are not set up with good preventative care and community resources and they struggle,” Schmoe mentioned.
Schmoe based The Midwife Bus in 2018, leaving the maternity clinic she labored at to take her midwifery on the street. She received a maintain of a 40-foot formally retired bloodmobile, then utilized for a grant by Orlando Health to get the wheels rolling.
“One of the appealing things about Brooke’s care is that she wanted to take prenatal care to the patient, versus waiting for the patient to come to clinics and the hospital. Some people have a hard time accessing hospitals and clinics and there is a need for this service,” mentioned Suzanne Worthington, president of Orlando Health Winnie Palmer Hospital for Women and Babies.
With a grant from Orlando Health and donations, Schmoe transformed the bus right into a cellular maternity clinic. The Midwife Bus has been serving households in Osceola County since 2020, now she’s increasing companies to Orange County, in the Holden Heights neighborhood.
The places for the place The Midwife Bus goes are recognized by a neighborhood wants evaluation. Schmoe has an ultrasound tech, licensed nurse midwife and workplace supervisor as a part of her employees, with consulting OBs. For sufferers who’re uninsured, The Midwife Bus expenses primarily based on earnings so nobody will get turned away.
Maxime Karman was midway by her being pregnant earlier than she met Schmoe in 2020, saying different maternity clinics wouldn’t settle for her insurance coverage.
“Not having a midwife to check the baby was really hard for me and not really knowing what to do to make myself feel better. It was definitely a journey. Once I found Brooke and found the bus, the whole pregnancy turned around and felt like a positive experience,” Karman mentioned. “It gives me hope because when I realized how hard it was to get prenatal care, it was very discouraging. “
The Midwife Bus provided maternity care for Karman through the rest of her pregnancy. Karman gave birth to her daughter Zoa.
“She definitely goes above and beyond, for me. She’s a hero. I think she’s saving a lot of people and making things a lot easier for them and you don’t find a lot of that in the world,” Karman mentioned.
Schmoe said the care she offers is more than just medical-based.
“What has been an even bigger part of it is just the social support. Having people who look fine on the outside and they come in here and open up about things that cause them a great amount of stress and talking to them. I like to make sure they are doing OK mentally, not just physically and being there for them emotionally,” Schmoe said. “It’s a huge gap in our system and it’s unfair but I can also see the flip side too because the liability is huge taking on people who can’t pay or who haven’t had care their whole pregnancy. It’s just a broken system. I’m not trying to do a complete overhaul of the system but just creating a life raft where I can create change in my circle of influence.”
The bus can be found parked every Monday at the Grand Avenue Neighborhood Center located at 800 Grand Street, Orlando, FL, 32805.
This is the bus’s fourth location and was methodically chosen to give patients in the Parramore community with limited or no transportation resources a better opportunity to get to and from the mobile clinic. With the addition of a new clinician, Schmoe and the Midwife Bus’s expanded services now span two counties, providing crucial care to women in several communities.
Click HERE to make a donation to The Midwife Bus.
The Midwife Bus sees all patients by appointment only. Patients can schedule an appointment by calling 321-354-6844 or visiting themidwifebus.org.
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