Washington programs

• We’re improving the health of babies in our state.
• Our programs support moms-to-be and professionals.
• We offer comfort to families with a newborn in intensive care.

The March of Dimes Washington Chapter has one goal: to help babies in our community start life in the healthiest way possible. Through education and intervention, we help moms-to-be learn how to take care of themselves before, during and after their pregnancy.

We are also there when things don’t go as planned, providing comfort and information to families when a baby is born too soon.

The March of Dimes Washington Chapter also partners with local medical groups and organizations to establish guidelines for how to care for pregnant women and premature babies. And we provide grants to researchers working to understand birth defects and premature birth and to find treatments and solutions.

Request for Proposals

The Washington Chapter has completed the 2012 Request for Proposals.  Check back for more information regarding upcoming grants and request for proposals for 2013.

NICU Family Support

The hospital-based NICU Family Support® program provides information and comfort to families during the NICU hospitalization of their newborn, during the transition home, and in the event of a newborn death; contributes to NICU staff professional development; and promotes the philosophy of family-centered care in NICUs.  Click here for more information.

INFORMATION ABOUT CenteringPregnancy®

CenteringPregnancy® is a group prenatal care model developed by Sharon Schindler Rising, MSN, CNM, FACNM whereby care is taken out of examination rooms and conducted in a space sufficient in size to accommodate a group of 8 to 12 women. In that space, women receive their basic prenatal assessment, share concerns informally with other women, and discuss together content related to childbearing and parenting. These sessions are led by a two skilled group leaders who also coordinate the assessment component. One leader must be a health care provider, usually a nurse midwife or nurse practitioner. The groups ideally consist of 8 to 12 women all due the same month. The sessions are designed to last two hours with the first 30 minutes being used for assessment and the remaining time for education.

 The March of Dimes grant program funds projects in our community that seek to improve birth outcomes and promote equity in birth outcomes by implementing group prenatal care.The March of Dimes awarded a community grant in 2012 to the Columbia Public Health Center to fund the CenteringPregnancy®care model.  Grant activities will continue through 2013.

For more information regarding CenteringPregnancy® please contact Gina Legaz at glegaz@marchofdimes.com.  Or, to make a donation and help us fund additional CenteringPregnancy® programs please click here:  https://www.marchofdimes.com/washington/support_giving.html?AmountToGive=100&x=66&y=18