Baystate Franklin & Pioneer Women’s Health: New Support Program
Baystate Franklin Medical Center and Pioneer women’s Health are proud to announce the launch of the Moms Do Care EMPOWER program,a groundbreaking initiative designed to provide comprehensive support for women facing substance use recovery challenges during pregnancy,childbirth,and the postpartum period. This program offers a holistic, trauma-informed approach, featuring team-based care that includes doulas, recovery coaches, and nurse navigators, all focused on empowering mothers. Participants will create family care plans, documenting their goals and needs throughout this critical journey. Individuals over 18 with current or past substance use experiences and parenting a child under 36 months are eligible. News Directory 3 highlights this program’s crucial services. Discover what’s next for this expanding program and the women it supports.
Baystate Franklin Offers Substance Use Recovery Support Program
GREENFIELD — baystate Franklin medical Center, in collaboration wiht Pioneer Women’s Health and the Center for Human Progress, has launched the Moms Do Care EMPOWER program. This initiative provides personalized,trauma-informed support for women navigating substance use recovery during pregnancy,birth,and the postpartum period. The program addresses substance use recovery with comprehensive care.
Funded through federal and state grants, Moms Do Care EMPOWER employs a team-based approach. This includes doulas, recovery coaches, care coordinators, nurse navigators, an obstetrician, and a midwife. The team also offers advocacy and support for families involved with the Department of Children and Families.
Josefa Scherer, program director, emphasized the program’s mission: “Our goal is to offer low-barrier, trauma-informed, peer-led support.”
Participants gain access to doulas,recovery coaching,and therapeutic support throughout pregnancy,birth,and postpartum. Nurse navigators assist with birth plans, provide data on caring for babies at risk of withdrawal, and explain what to expect during a hospital stay.
Recognizing the importance of bonding, breastfeeding, and skin-to-skin contact in preventing or lessening newborn withdrawal symptoms, Baystate Franklin Medical Center offers all families delivering at the Birthplace the chance for full rooming-in with their babies.
To be eligible for Moms Do Care EMPOWER, individuals must complete an enrollment process and meet specific criteria. These include being 18 or older, being pregnant, postpartum, or parenting a child under 36 months old, having current or past experiences with substances, and having been on medication for substance use or having a history of overdose.
The Moms Do Care EMPOWER team includes peer mentors with lived experience in recovery. These mentors are specially trained to work with pregnant and postpartum women with current or past substance use experiences.
Peer mentors offer emotional and recovery support, assistance with accessing care, and advocacy for families involved with the Department of Children and Families and the criminal justice system.
Scherer said participants can collaborate with their team to create a family care plan. This plan documents their goals, hopes, needs, and fears related to labor, delivery, and parenting in recovery. Information is also provided about caring for babies at risk for withdrawal,including what to expect during extended hospital stays for the baby or mother.
What’s next
The Moms Do Care EMPOWER program aims to expand its reach and continue providing crucial support to women and families in the Greenfield area affected by substance use.