An integral part of our mission is to empower women to become active participants in their own health care. By educating women about health care, we can improve the health of entire families and ultimately the community.
Infant Welfare provides women with the highest quality preventive and gynecological care, prenatal care during pregnancy and postpartum care. We also provide women with health education, disease prevention and mental health services. Last year, 3,019 women 18 and over received prenatal, gynecological and basic health care during 10,276 visits to our women's clinic.
The Whole Women’s Wellness (WWW) primary care model emphasizes tri-linguaL (English/Spanish/Polish) patient education and other preventive measures that take all of a woman’s circumstances into consideration. Our more expansive definition of the healthcare team includes the patients themselves. Doctors, nurses, patients, and parents collaborate to create individualized wellness and treatment plans.
Infant Welfare also provides access to a broad range of high-quality family planning services through a Title X compliant program. While IWS advises patients that the best protection against pregnancy is abstinence, we offer a range of contraceptive options. Every medication is accompanied by education on reproductive health and pregnancy options.
Those patients who do become pregnant are offered comprehensive pre- and perinatal care, including screenings; ultrasounds; lactation education; an appointment at the on-site dental clinic incorporating information on babies’ oral health; referrals to hospital birthing centers and any needed social services; prenatal vitamins; and enrollment in Healthy Steps, an early childhood development program.
Each annual well-woman visit incorporates a provider’s exam, thorough health history, and preventive health education tailored to the behaviors and risk factors experienced by individual patients. We provide all asymptomatic screenings as recommended by the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force. Services aimed at prevention or early detection of breast and cervical cancer include clinical breast exams, self-exam instruction, and Pap smears, of which we performed 92% of annual well-woman exams last year.
