Staffers with the MOMobile program at the Northeast’s District 10 Health Center fear that clients could be in for a bumpy ride when delivering their babies now that Jeanes Hospital will close its maternity unit on May 31.

Two weeks ago, the Temple University Health System, which claims Jeanes as part of its health-care network, announced that budget cuts resulted in the decision to eliminate the Fox Chase hospital’s Maternal and Child Health Program.

Since 1997, 14 hospitals in the Philadelphia area have closed their obstetrics units, according to the health center program.

"The resources are drying up right in front of us for pregnant and parenting women," said MOMobile program director Arnetta Stewart.

Locally, the program operates out of the city’s District 10 Health Center at Cottman and Bustleton avenues.

Last year, the non-profit Maternity Care Coalition, which provides the MOMobile as part of its outreach efforts, published a report of its study of the state of childbirth options and care in Southeastern Pennsylvania.

In the preface to the report, MCC executive director JoAnne Fischer stated, "While it may be premature to say that we are in a health-care crisis for childbearing families, we are indeed at a crossroads."

In this region, the planned May 31 shutdown of Jeanes’ OB unit has changed all that, said Letty Thall.

"We are no longer at a crossroads. It’s a crisis," said Thall, MCC’s director of research, education and advocacy, during an interview in the Northeast Philadelphia MOMobile office.

MCC is a non-profit organization that seeks to improve maternal and child health and well-being, with outreach primarily in high-risk neighborhoods and advocacy at the local, state and national levels.

The MOMobile is its signature program, relying on vans to visit neighborhoods to deliver support and resources to pregnant women, new parents, infants and their families in eight areas of Southeastern Pennsylvania, including Philadelphia and sections of Montgomery and Delaware counties. Some of those services include providing links to prenatal care, pediatric and women’s health care, behavioral health services, nutrition programs, education and other community resources.

"You may never need us, but it’s always good to have that safety net," Stewart said.

The Northeast MOMobile and its 400 to 500 clients, most with limited means, will be directly impacted by the end of maternity services at Jeanes, MCC officials say.

The majority of women seen at the health center take SEPTA and would find it difficult to make their way to suburban hospitals, even if they weren’t in labor at the time, the coalition contends.

Not all of the hospitals accept Keystone Mercy Health Plan, the Medicaid-managed care provider. For example, Lower Bucks Hospital and Abington Memorial Hospital accept Keystone Mercy, but Holy Redeemer does not.

According to Holy Redeemer spokeswoman Candice Ryan, maternity services are available to medical-assistance patients through Health Partners.

Stewart, the MOMobile director, said the majority of women she sees are immigrants and often are without any insurance. Without documentation, only emergency insurance is available for routine deliveries. There is no coverage for anything beyond that, such as complications because of diabetes, she said.
"If they use the health center, we can register them for the emergency insurance," Stewart said.

She and others with the Maternity Care Coalition are highly concerned about the future of obstetrical care, especially as hospitals bend to financial pressures or opt to funnel resources to other key areas of medical care.

According to Thall, MCC has been in communication with Philadelphia City Council, state representatives, U.S. Rep. Allyson Schwartz and members of Gov. Ed Rendell’s cabinet to direct their attention to the dilemma.

"Nobody is totally responsible, but everybody has a piece of it," she said. "There is not one single answer." ••

It was a busy year . . .

Since 1980, more than 60,000 families have been served by the nine MOMobile locations throughout the Philadelphia area.

MOMobile 2006 Report Card
• 40,846 interventions to educate families
• 4,939 families served
• 3,636 deliveries of supplies
• 2,661 calls to Cribs for Kids hot line
• 2,059 clients participated in Safe Sleep education
• 1,800 clients participated in Parenting Outreach meetings
• 964 new families were enrolled
• 460 children received holiday gifts

Learn about the childbirth crisis through our Maternity Care in Southeastern PA pages, or visit our Maternity Services Advocacy pages to find out how communities are advocating and how you can take action!

MCC's full Childbirth at a Crossroads report can be viewed here.