For pregnant women in several Interior Health communities, information, resources and services to get the best start for mom and baby are just a quick phone call away. Interior Health is pleased to announce the launch of its prenatal registry service on August 14th in the following communities:
· Cranbrook/Kimberley
· Nelson/Castlegar/Trail
· Central Okanagan
· Vernon
· Kamloops
· Williams Lake/Cariboo Chilcotin
“Making it easy to get answers to questions that women may have while pregnant will help moms and babies get a healthy start to life,” said Cariboo-Chilcotin MLA Donna Barnett. “I look forward to seeing the pilot service expand to all Interior Health communities in the near future so all pregnant women can use the phone line to get information on services and supports available to them.”
The prenatal registry is a toll-free confidential phone line (1-855-868-7710) that women can call to register for the birth of their babies, ask questions and get valuable information about services available to support a healthy pregnancy. When a woman calls the toll-free number she will speak directly with a public health nurse who can answer her questions and connect her with supports and services that meet her individual needs. A wide range of information and resources are available in areas such as nutrition, tobacco use, substance abuse, sexual health, safety, immunization, breastfeeding, parenting and more.
“Not all pregnant women have the same needs. Some may be calling to sign up for prenatal classes, others may have questions about healthy eating and some may just want to know what supports are available in their communities,” said Anne Clarotto, Promotion and Prevention Program Director with Interior Health. “Instead of calling a few places to get this information they can now call one number. It’s like a one-stop shop for a healthy pregnancy.”
The prenatal registry will operate from 10 a.m. – 3 p.m. Pacific Standard Time / 11 a.m. - 4 p.m. Mountain Standard Time - Tuesday through Friday. The service is available for all pregnant women in the pilot communities.
Interior Health is implementing the prenatal registry using a phased approach and plans to expand the service to all other communities within the region in early 2013.
“We are very excited about this new service and we know all pregnant women in the Interior Health region can benefit from the ease and convenience of the prenatal registry,” said Anne Clarotto. “We will use this pilot phase to make the program the best it can be and we look forward to being able to offer it across the region in the near future.”
Women are encouraged to call the prenatal registry early in their pregnancy. The sooner they call, the sooner they can learn about and get connected to, valuable services, supports and information.