The Maternity Care Center and Heart Community Resource Center in Lauderdale Lakes recently opened its doors in response to an alarming medical issue in this city’s largely Black community: A high percentage of pregnant women were giving birth to premature babies and too many babies were being hospitalized after birth because of a lack of critical prenatal care.
“We saw a need in two zip codes — 33311 and 33313 — where we had higher rates of preterm birth, higher rates of babies going into the NICU, the neonatal intensive care unit,” said Amy Pont, director of community health for Community Care Plan, a nonprofit insurer owned by both Broward Health and Memorial Healthcare System. “We wanted to put a community resource center where we would address those health-related social needs.”
“Broward Health approached us and said, ‘We’re concerned about those zip codes, too. We’re willing to put in this maternity center,’” Pont said. “We’d already rented the space. We were actually fortunate enough that the space next door became available.”
Working with Broward HealthPoint, an affiliate of Broward Health, Community Care Plan staff opened the medical center inside a large plaza at 3736 W. Oakland Park Blvd.
“I happen to be a Black female who practices obstetrics and who happens to be a mother. It does mean a lot for me to give back to the community."Dr Katrina Brown-Burgess
As a new “Federally Qualified Health Center,” also known as community health centers, the new facility will serve Lauderdale Lakes and nearby cities, including Lauderhill, Sunrise and Oakland Park. It is one of nearly 1,400 federally designated community health centers across the country. One in 11 Americans rely on them to get routine medical care and social services.
More than 80% of Lauderdale Lake's population is Black and in Florida, non-Hispanic Black women were almost four times as likely to have a pregnancy-related death compared to non-Hispanic White women in 2020, according to the Florida’s Department of Health.
Before it opened, a pregnant woman had to travel roughly six miles to the nearest affordable maternity care provider, the Cora E. Braynon Family Health Center near central Fort Lauderdale. Getting there by bus from Lauderdale Lakes takes roughly an hour on two bus lines.
The farther a woman travels to receive maternity care, the greater the risk of maternal morbidity, having a stillbirth, or giving birth before full term, according to research from the March of Dimes. Distances cause financial strain and increase prenatal stress and anxiety.
READ MORE:Black women in South Florida seek non-racist medical care, and to fill gaps of Black doctors
The center’s large space includes one area with exam rooms and a lab; the other area makes available an array of social services. These include a private room for breastfeeding, a playroom with supervised childcare, public computers with free internet, and space for classes like dance for pregnant women, public speaking, and help with one’s finances and budgeting.
Sunlight comes in through the large glass windows at the front entrance. Inside, they have large, colorful murals and photos depicting Black families.
Dr. Katina Brown-Burgess, one of the physicians who cares for patients here, was born and raised in Fort Lauderdale, and is thrilled to be able to serve her community.
“I happen to be a Black female who practices obstetrics and who happens to be a mother. It does mean a lot for me to give back to the community,” Dr. Brown-Burgess said.
Brown-Burgess chairs obstetrics and gynecology at Broward Health Medical Center in Fort Lauderdale. She says she typically sees 20 to 30 patients a day — and giving each one adequate care means having a conversation and getting to know them.
“When I walk into a room, I always ask my patients, ‘How are you doing?’” she said. “I am studying her. I am looking at her demeanor, her movements. [Make] eye contact. I touch the patient and say, ‘Hey, before we go into this visit, where are you mentally?’”
Verónica Zaragovia
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WLRN
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention published a survey last year that found Black women have a high rate of mistreatment during maternity care. That includes not getting help from a nurse or physician or being shouted at or scolded.
Brown-Burgess blames this on racism in the healthcare profession. The Maternity Care Center and Heart Community Resource Center in Lauderdale Lakes has staff who speak several languages, including Haitian Creole and Spanish, to help all patients feel welcomed and understood.
Prenatal services made available
The center also offers group prenatal services.
“They all walk in and immediately start taking each other's name and phone numbers,” said Rose McKelvie, Broward Health’s associate vice president of women and children’s services. Women are more likely to stick with their prenatal appointments when they have this support.
McKelvie urges pregnant women to get maternal care at the start of a pregnancy. Staff will help patients determine if they qualify for Medicaid, or depending on their income, they will be charged on a sliding fee scale. No one will be turned away for being unable to pay for care.
It’s not only healthcare providers behind this center. The Broward Black Maternal Health Collaborative behind it includes Broward County Healthy Start, the Urban League of Broward County, and the Broward Health and Community Care Plan.
They have received funding from the U.S. Health Resources and Services Administration and from the Health Foundation of South Florida.
More than one year ago, the Health Foundation of South Florida, a philanthropic organization focused on giving everyone equal access to care and well-being, put out a call for collaboration proposals.
“We needed to bring to the collaborative community-based organizations who could come partner with the health care providers so that we were sure that both the health care needs as well as the social needs of the mothers would be addressed and met,” said Loreen Chant, the chief executive officer of the Health Foundation of South Florida, which granted $850,000 to this collaboration behind the Lauderdale Lakes center.
Funding is going towards training doulas and providing doulas for pregnant women. Doulas support women during labor, birth, and the postpartum period. Doula-assisted births have been linked to lower stress, lower chances of cesarean, or C-section, births, and lower postpartum depression.
Reducing stress during pregnancy is imperative for good health outcomes.
Some of the funding from the Health Foundation of South Florida will provide emergency assistance with utility bills, for instance, if a patient needs some vital short-term help. And support for the group prenatal classes.
Said Chant: “The responsibility to address the structural barriers and the root causes of these health disparities cannot be borne alone by the health system or the health care providers.”
